Acceleration (2019)

 

Acceleration (2019)- * * *

Directed by: Daniel Zirilli and Michael Merino

Starring: Natalie Burn, Dolph Lundgren, Sean Patrick Flannery, Chuck Liddell, Quinton "Rampage Jackson, Sally Kirkland, and Danny Trejo






Vladik (Dolph) is a Los Angeles-based criminal mastermind. He has kidnapped a young tot named Mika (Mashukov) because he wants his mother Rhona (Burn) to run down a laundry list of his criminal enemies and either kill them, get something from them, beat them up, or some other task - all this in one grueling night for Rhona. With her beloved son's life hanging in the balance, Rhona will have to summon all her grit and tenacity as she faces a colorful cast of criminal characters such as mob boss Kane (Flanery), his top goon Hannibal (Liddell), Eli (Jackson), Santos (Trejo), among many others. There's also Richie (London), and sympathetic waitress Betty (Kirkland) - but will Rhona survive the night of her nightmares? More importantly, will Mika? And might there be one final twist in this tale?




We know what you're thinking. You're surprised Vinnie Jones and Bai Ling were not in the cast along with everyone else. Well, we were too, but Acceleration is pretty colorful without them - not just the varied cast of characters but the cinematography as well. There are lots of pinks, purples, greens, and neon hues. All this keeps Acceleration from feeling flat like a lot of its DTV brethren. So we've got to give it credit for that.




The simple, streamlined plot allows for the introduction of new characters one after another, and you don't know what you're going to get. Will it be a fight scene, a shootout, or simply a bit of brief dialogue? You don't actually know, which adds an edge of unpredictability to the proceedings. Natalie Burn puts in a good, tough performance that's easy to like. Comparisons to Gina Carano are perhaps unfair but it's hard for your mind not to go there at times. She's credited as a producer, and with casting, on the film and it's a nice showcase for her talent.




Sean Patrick Flanery plays the seemingly Tommy DeVito-influenced gangster with plenty of verve. If Flanery wasn't available, Tom Sizemore easily could have stepped in. Trejo, Rampage, London, and Kirkland all have cameos. Maybe in the case of Kirkland it's a glorified cameo. But Acceleration centers on Burn, with a secondary emphasis on Dolph, with a lot of Flanery in between. As far as Liddell, at least his voice isn't high-pitched, like certain other people we could name. The kid Mashukov holds his own with Dolph and it's pretty cute to watch. Mika could be the new Bin Bin.




Acceleration gives us some classic action movie cliches, such as characters searching for both a ledger and a disc, someone says "We got company!", and in the Trejo scene, there is dialogue to the effect of "We go way back, you and me". The puzzling thing about Acceleration is, after a stylish opening, and an adherence to maintaining that style throughout, plus an obvious dedication to the action genre, the filmmakers also decided on cringey CGI muzzle flashes for all the gun-shootin' scenes, which looks terrible and comes off looking stupid and lazy. Perhaps it's a minor quibble, but it comes into conflict with the style that the filmmakers have shown a tendency towards.




It was co-directed by the late Daniel Zirilli - who will forever be known as the man who made Phoenix (2023) - and Michael Merino, who also wrote the film. Why this is a co-direct we're not exactly sure, as both men seem quite capable on their own. But Acceleration is kind of a "By the Fans, For the Fans" type of DTV action movie and is more than simply "John Chick", as certain wags out there have labeled it. It's better than a lot of its competitors and, except for those muzzle flashes, appears to be trying to rise above its station, which we very much appreciated.




All wrapping up at a brisk 80 minutes before the credits roll, Acceleration is a solid and entertaining entry into the modern day DTV canon.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out write-ups from our buddies, DTVC and The Video Vacuum!

Act Of War (1998)

 Act Of War (1998)- * * *

Directed by: Robert Lee

Starring: Jack Scalia, Douglas Arthurs, Ingrid Torrence, and Milan Gargula

Uh oh. There has been (another?) military coup in Bazrakhistan. Just when you think the long-suffering Bazrakhis have found peace and security, along comes Sergei Constantine (Arthurs), a General with a terminal case of evilface, and the new Bazrakhi President, Krutov (Gargula) wants to be recognized by the U.S. He threatens that if they're not, they'll launch their nukes. The baddies take everyone at the embassy hostage until their demands are met. But said baddies didn't count on one thing: Jack Gracy (Scalia). Gracy crashes the party (literally) so he can see his girlfriend Katherina (Torrance), but he ends up with the classic Disc that would enable the nuclear strikes. Of course, the baddies want the disc. What then follows are some classic shootings, beat-ups and blow-ups. Will Jack Gracy be able to stop this ACT OF WAR?



The mystery man of Eastern European-shot DTV extravaganzas - Lloyd Simandl - teams up with the most underrated director in DTV - Robert Lee - for this slab of Die Hardiana with John McScalia front and center to save the day. Even his white tanktop and brown pants combo will remind you of a certain person from a certain movie series we all have become familiar with over the years. Jack Gracy is not likable but somehow that all adds to the humor of the film. The fact that he's somewhat of a jerk is just funny. Because...of course he is. At one point he does fly sideways in the air while shooting his gun (s), so that kind of makes up for his rather humorous unlikability.




Because it was 1998, world-destroying nuclear missiles cannot be launched without a CD-ROM disc. Naturally, this is the MacGuffin that everyone is looking for, from the baddies to the nerdy Willmont (Nykl). Leave it up to Simandl's James Bond - Jack Gracy - to get the disc and the launch codes. It's all about those dang launch codes. This cliche is backed with another one, the Wacky Taxi Driver. Seemingly you couldn't enter any foreign country in the 80's or 90's without one. Here we get a classic. He's a wacky Bazrakhi that even gets Scalia/Gracy to show his sillier side. Maybe that was unavoidable.




The new head of Bazrakhistan is named Krutov, and he's played by Lucio Fulci lookalike Gargula. Every time his name is said, it sounds like they're saying "Crouton". This just takes an already very silly and stupid movie and adds another log on the silly/stupid fire. There are meatheaded "Ox" and "Moose"-type dum-dums, an out-of-nowhere exploding helicopter, and plenty of other instances of good-natured dumbness that you just can't hate. But some of the best dialogue scenes come in the War Room, presumably somewhere in the U.S. government recesses. It's there that the actors involved really come out to shine. We imagine it's an accurate reflection of what really goes on behind the scenes.


In the end, if you like your DTV movies both dumb and unintelligent, you will get a big kick out of Act of War. You can certainly get some laffs and yuks out of it, if that's what you're after. It will make you yearn for the slickness and stylishness of Don Mogavero. So, you'll probably have a good time with it, even if that may not have been the original intention.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty


Also check out a write-up from our buddy, The Video Vacuum!