The bullshit action movie is a genre unto itself. Like the gangster movie or the western, there's a certain set of expectation a genre film must deliver on to be a part of the gang. And WWE production The Marine delivers in spades. It has a basic 'bad guys took my wife and now they're gonna pay' plot. It has lots of huge, practical, slow-motion explosions every 20 minutes that are filmed over and over and over again from multiple angles. It has the hero stroll away from flames, drive through explosions and dive (twice!) out of an exploding building. Can you smell it?
But that's not all. Star, ex wrestler John Cena, is borderline wooden, with screen presence making up for lack of charisma. But in true genre fashion, Cena gets all the classic lines, that only exist in the minds of unsophisticated American screenwriters. And to balance the straight faced cliches, Robert Patrick and chums amusingly bicker, squabble and terrorise their way across the US. east coat wetlands.
The characters are enjoyable, the action ridiculous and the girls cute. For a low brow film this is great fun and far, far better than Cena's follow up movie, Renny Harlin's 12 Rounds.
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