As with the video generation before it companies releasing
DVDs straight to video has created a niche market for various stars. These
stars have name recognition for some but perhaps not the majority of
moviegoers. That’s a shame because many of them deserve better than they’re
getting, some doing better work in small budget films than many major stars.
One such actor is Dominic Purcell. His first major break
that I was aware of was as the main nemesis of Wesley Snipes in BLADE: TRINITY.
A year later he became more recognizable as Lincoln Burrows in the now famous
TV series PRISON BREAK. More recently he’s starred in the new CW series DC
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW. But in between these items he’s starred in a number of low
budget action films and done a great job in each. Why he’s not making a bigger
splash is beyond me.
This week Purcell arrives in GRIDLOCKED. He plays David
Hendrix, a SWAT team leader demoted to street cop and not pleased with that
position. Worse yet he is now saddled with a temperamental bad boy young actor
on probation after punching a member of the paparazzi. Brody Walker (Cody
Hackman) is a stereotypical character here, the obnoxious brat styled young
actor who had fame to fast and abuses it at every chance he can. As he tags
along with Hendrix he wants to know more about when he can shoot a gun rather
than take something useful back from their time spent together.
Hendrix is no piece of cake either. Resentful of being stuck
with Walker he does everything he can to ignore him. That is until one night
when Walker shows up at Hendrix’ apartment, six pack in hand and tries to call
a truce. Hendrix breaks down a bit and takes him to the training facility for
SWAT to show him what their real world is like.
Unfortunately they’ve picked a bad night to do so. While
Hendrix and his old squad are in the midst of an exercise, their own Hogan’s
Alley test area, a team of mercenaries takes out the power and ignites an EMP
cutting off any and all access to phones. As a gun battle follows the old guard
at the facility Sully (Danny Glover) is shot and reveals to Hendrix what this
group might be after. As the two teams go head to head, skirmish after skirmish
the leader of the group is revealed, someone who has bad blood with Hendrix.
Just who will survive this night remains to be seen.
Where the plotline of the spoiled and incompetent movie star
partnered with a tough as nails cop has been done before the best thing about
it here is that it’s used to put the ball in motion but isn’t the centerpiece
of the film. That makes it work so much better than expected. Instead the
writers and director have chosen to make the film about the assault on the
training facility filled with enough backstory to make it believable and
involving.
Purcell’s character fits his appearance and skills as an
actor. He’s an imposing figure to look at with a tough as nails attitude that
oozes from every pore in each scene he’s in. And yet there are moments when
with just a subtle adjustment of body language or quick smile you can see there
is more to Hendrix than meets the eye. That’s the sign of a good actor.
Perhaps the weakest character here is Brody. Hackman doesn’t
have the chops yet to pull off this character even though he gives it a decent
try. As written the character is far too clichéd and it would take someone with
more skill to pull this off. Even Michael J. Fox in THE HARD WAY (1991) wasn’t
able to quite achieve it. When I read that Hackman was a five time karate
champion before going into film I wondered why those skills were never used
here. It might have made for a more interesting character.
The movie offers some great fight sequences, some over the
top gun battles and a plot that may have a few holes in it but not enough to
make it unenjoyable. The rest of the cast does a great job in their roles and
for being a film on the low budget end every penny shows on the screen. I’ve
seen bigger budget films in the past year with more major special effects that
haven’t compared to this one. So if you’re in the mood for a solid action film
that will keep you involved from start to finish then give this one a shot. And
keep in mind that Dominic Purcell is far better than the roles he’s been
getting.
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