- Actors: Mike Mizanin
- Director: James Nunn
- Disc Format: AC-3, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: French, Portuguese, Czech, German, Russian, Estonian, Finnish, Swedish, Polish, Arabic, Latvian, Italian, Korean, Dutch, Mandarin Chinese, Norwegian, Hungarian, Romanian, Thai, English, Spanish, Danish, Turkish, Greek, Lithuanian
- Dubbed: French, Portuguese, German
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Rated: R
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- Release Date: April 25, 2017
- Run Time: 91 minutes
The title Marine
of The Marine franchise has remained
the same for the last three of the five movies, but even with a familiar
character returning, these films often feel like ordinary scripts that have
repurposed to become the next installment. There is rarely any connection in
the storyline beyond the returning main character with a military background,
this time even removing him from the job he is known for. I suppose titling the
film The Former Marine is not as
catchy, and it is actually somewhat of a relief that the latest entry has
simplified the narrative.
No longer
working as a Marine, Jake Carter (Mike “The Miz” Mizanin) is on his first shift
as an EMT when he and his partner (Anna Van Hooft) are sent on a distress call
to an empty parking structure. Although they think the call is for a heart
attack, it turns out to be gunshot wounds on a man (Nathan Mitchell) who has
just carried out a hit on a biker gang. Before Jake and his partner have the
chance to rescue the suspect, they find themselves trapped in the lower levels
of the parking garage by a gang of surprisingly diverse bikers looking for
revenge.
This allows WWE
Studios to do what they love best, casting numerous wrestlers to play the
villains that our hero will dispatch over the course of the film. There is even
an appearance by WWE Diva and Mizanin’s wife, Maryse, though she plays a victim
on an early call rather than one of the bikers, as the cover art might suggest.
Rather than giving them what they want, Jake stands his ground against the
bikers and uses his training to fight back. While some of this means clever
tricks and sneaking around to counter being outnumbered and outgunned, there is
also plenty of hand-to-hand fighting that just gives these wrestlers the
opportunity to do onscreen what they are known for onstage.
This familiar
action film formula is essentially just Die
Hard in a parking garage, but the simplicity of the narrative is an asset
compared to some of the more convoluted plots in the franchise. This is also
similar to the set-up of the first film, replacing the wilderness with an urban
setting. Simplicity doesn’t necessarily make The Marine 5 a good movie, but it is more enjoyable than a majority
of the straight-to-video installments. The biggest problem is the lack of logic
in the characters’ actions, though this hardly seems the film that fans will
spend much time thinking about.
The special
features include two featurettes, one of which focuses on the casting of WWE
stars. Neither is much more than promotional fodder, though I suppose some fans
may appreciate the cast interviews. I don’t particularly care about WWE, so I
may not be the target audience for this film, despite my love of all things
action.
Entertainment Value:
6.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
Special Features: 2.5/10
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