The Flick

How hard can a flick that proudly sports the WWE logo and features wrestling superstar John Cena rock?  Pretty darn hard.  Going into 12 Rounds I expected a smoldering pile of poo, but to my surprise the flick held my interest, was a lot of fun, and introduced me to a new action hero. 

Cena plays Danny Fisher, a New Orleans police officer that chases down an arms dealer Miles Jackson (Aidan Gillen) on foot (said arms dealer is in a BMW) and brings him to justice.  Only the arms dealer’s girlfriend is killed during the pursuit, an unfortunate accident that makes him extremely mad.  One year later Miles escapes and pulls Danny into a dangerous game of cat and mouse that uses the streets of New Orleans as its game-board.  Danny must complete 12 Rounds of death defying tasks if he ever wants to see the love of his life again. 

If your into explosions, and running, lots and lots of running, then it doesn’t get much better than this Michael Bay influenced bombfest.  Cena and Gillen inflict more damage on the city of New Orleans than hurricane Katrina did but it’s all in the name of good fun.  Director Renny Harlin provides viewers of his film with a pretty impressive blanket of dust, smoke, and fire.  I was impressed with the way the director stitched together all the action sequences. But it was Gillen that really sold the flick.  He was perfect as the flicks villain and while the rest of the cast was strong he outshines all of them.  Cena was pretty good as the super cop and I’m actually stoked to see where he goes from here.  

Overall, 12 Rounds was a fun ride.  It’s not going to win an Oscar but it is definitely a killer film.

The Blu-ray

Audio/Visual – This is an awesome blu-ray.  The flick looked spectacular on on my HD TV, the colors are brilliant and the sound is design is solid.  The 5.1 mix is clean and provides a really amazing experience for anyone watching it on a home theatre system.

Special Features

Disc 1

Theatrical/Unrated – There are two different versions of 12 Rounds on this disc, the theatrical cut, and the unrated extreme cut, which is supposed to be more extreme but truthfully wasn’t all that different from the theatrical cut except for a little foul language and maybe a little more smoke.  

2 Alternate Endings with Optional Commentaries – I’m thankful these alternate endings are in fact alternate because neither of them are quite as cool as the one that made it into the flick.  The commentaries were decent but not really necessary.

Streetcar Crossing: Film with Caution – This is a pretty cool feature that details the difficulties of shooting the incredible street car sequence.  I had a great time with this feature, it’s totally worth multiple viewings.  

12 Bonus Round Featurettes – A group of awesome short featurettes that cover different behind the scenes aspects of the production.  

Never-Before-Cena Gag Reel – This is a pretty standard gag reel.  Not my favorite feature on this disc but I’m sure Cena fans will dig it.

A Crash Course – This is pretty cool feature that focuses on the stunts that Cena performs in the flick.  

Round and Round with Renny and John – An interview with director and actor.  Not my favorite feature but still entertaining.  

Besides these solid features there are also Viral Videos, Unrated Commentary  with Renny Harlin, Writer David Kunka, and John Cena.  

Disc 2

Digital Copy of 12 Rounds – If your into watching movies on your computer or on portable media players then this might be for you, but in my book this is a pretty useless feature.  

The Flick: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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Welcome to New Release Tuesday for June 30^th! For all of your ordering needs, just click on the cover art to go to Amazon.com!

Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li

This will be debatable but this new version of the classic Capcom game is no better, maybe worse in certain regards, than the early ’90s Jean Claude Van Damme film. Waste of cool characters (like Vega), silly plot, and direct-to-DVD level production values, this is a stinker. Also on Blu Ray. Jon says: Avoid Donny says:

Two Lovers

I sadly missed out on this when it came to the theaters, but what was billed as Joaquin Phoenix’s last film, got quickly over-shadowed by his new zoned out, long beard, sunglass wearing, rap star look. Also on Blu Ray. Jon says: Rent Donny says:

Tokyo!

Three stories all centered in Tokyo, Japan, all directed by three awesome directors: Michel Gondry, Bong Joon-ho, and Leos Carax., and missed by me again in the theaters. What’s wrong with me this year? I’m eager to check it out ASAP. Also on Blu Ray. Jon says: Rent Donny says:

12 Rounds

Did anybody see this WWE/John Cena action film? RT gave it a 27%, but I was hard pressed to find anyone who saw it. Also on Blu Ray. Jon says: Avoid Donny says:

The Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience

Yes, we are covering the Jonas Brothers right here on Killer Film. It’s for our teeny bopper readers…wait, we got those? Also on Blu Ray. Jon says: Avoid Donny says:

New to Blu

Do the Right Thing

Flawless

Well, June is over. Decent month, really good if you’re a Blu Ray or Criterion fan. Keep it here at Killer Film for all of our reviews and news on these discs and more!