As brain-off Friday night entertainment, it almost suffices – but only because the quality of brain-off Friday night action has been lowered so significantly in recent years.
12 Rounds (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:64
Fresh:18
Rotten:46
Average Rating:4.4/10
Consensus: Energetic but empty, 12 Rounds' preposterous plot hurtles along at a rapid pace, but can’t disguise the derivative script.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for intense sequences of violence and action.
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:27-05-2009
Synopsis: Finnish director Renny Harlin (CLIFFHANGER, DIE HARD 2) brings first-time screenwriter Daniel Kunka’s story to life in the fast-paced action film 12 ROUNDS. When New Orleans police officer Danny... Finnish director Renny Harlin (CLIFFHANGER, DIE HARD 2) brings first-time screenwriter Daniel Kunka’s story to life in the fast-paced action film 12 ROUNDS. When New Orleans police officer Danny Fisher (WWE wrestler John Cena) apprehends Miles Jackson (Aidan Gillen, THE WIRE), a villainous Irishman being pursued by the FBI, Jackson’s girlfriend is accidentally killed. One year later, Jackson is out of prison and seeking revenge, kidnapping Fisher's girlfriend, Molly (Ashley Scott), and setting up an elaborate game of cat and mouse that traverses the city. Now a detective, Fisher, with the help of the FBI and his fellow officers, has to survive 12 rounds of Jackson’s game--each more mentally and physically challenging than the last--if he wants to see Molly alive again. Meanwhile, the roguish Jackson may be seeking more than just retribution. Although the premise is completely implausible, 12 ROUNDS is a fun thrill ride. Jackson’s plan and Fisher’s ensuing pursuit leave an unimaginable trail of destruction throughout the city, managing to encompass fire engines, buses, a streetcar, and a helicopter, along with fires, explosions, and blackouts, among other things. There isn’t a dull moment as Fisher and the FBI agents, played by Steve Harris and Gonzalo Menendez, try to outwit the seemingly omnipotent villain. Cena, resembling a super-sized Mark Wahlberg, fits the bill for an action hero. Gillen is a solid nemesis: heartless, stone-faced, and completely out for himself. Brian White plays Hank, Fisher’s partner and best friend, and Scott is appealing as Fisher’s feisty girlfriend. [More]
Starring: John Cena, Aidan Gillen, Ashley Scott, Steve Harris
Starring: John Cena, Aidan Gillen, Ashley Scott, Steve Harris, Brian White, Taylor Cole, Gonzalo Menendez, Kyle Clements, Peter Navy Tuiasosopo, Travis Davis, Nick Gomez
Director: Renny Harlin
Director: Renny Harlin
Screenwriter: Daniel Kunka
Producer: Mark Gordon, Josh McLaughlin, Michael Lake
Composer: Trevor Rabin
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for 12 Rounds
It's either one of the dumbest films in world history, or a sly work of ironic genius. Either way, it's damn entertaining.
Hugely entertaining, fast paced and enjoyably old fashioned action thriller that delivers more explosions, chase scenes and action sequences in one film than in the rest of the summer blockbusters put together.
Heavy on stunts but light on plausibility, humor, surprise, visual ingenuity or psychological depth.
Awfully forgettable, but Harlin makes things go boom again, with ruthless efficiency that puts the flick just over the hump of the straight-to-cable Jeff Speakman school. [Blu-ray]
With all the nuance of a fist to the groin, ... (it's) the kind of forgettable film that isn't impossible to enjoy but that only a Cena fan could truly love.
A very satisfying and well made action thriller that could only be improved if Arnold Schwarzenegger was the star.
With its wonderful post-Katrina NOLA setting and the standard stunt spectacle as only Harlin can deliver, 12 Rounds is actually quite good. It's no masterpiece, but then again, few post-millennial adrenaline rushes have been.
Director of Photography David Boyd should be slammed against a wall by star John Cena and bitch-slapped until he cries like a little girl.
Harlin shakes the picture around as if he and the camera were constantly bouncing around in the bed of a rattletrap pickup truck.
We all have our little fantasies. Some people focus on romance, some on money, some one exotic locales.
It is hard to know what is more depressing--the fact that Harlin is now reduced to making vanity projects for the WWE's film division or the fact that he can't even seem to pull something like that off anymore.
A graceless scrap between a Die Hard flick and the public-transportation mayhem of Speed.
This ain't the real 12 Rounds. Not the actual movie. It's more like a storyboard. Or an animatic. That's it. Just to give you an idea of what the real movie's gonna look like. Man, you're gonna love it, I swear.
12 Rounds is an occasionally exciting but always empty action movie experience.
Latest News for 12 Rounds
May 31, 2009:
Five Favourite Films with Renny Harlin
Finnish director Renny Harlin has one of the most schizophrenic CVs in movie-dom. He's directed some of the most beloved action films of the last 20 years, including Die Hard 2,... More...
March 30, 2009:
12 Rounds Star Wants Jericho Film Trilogy ![]()
In a recent interview, 12 Rounds actress Ashley Scott chimes in on rumored plans to bring the cancelled CBS sci-fi show Jericho to the big screen. In short, she's in -- how's a... More...
March 26, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Monsters vs. Aliens Is A Blast
This week at the movies, we've got a war of the worlds (Monsters vs. Aliens, with voice work by Reese Witherspoon and Seth Rogan), a demonic abode (The Haunting in Connecticut,... More...
March 26, 2009:
Box Office Guru Preview: Monsters vs. Aliens Ready For Mighty Attack
Ginormica and her mutant pals look to seize control of the North American box office with the animated 3D adventure Monsters vs. Aliens which will try to overtake a group of... More...
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