Moving Target (1996)

Moving Target (1996)-* *

Directed by: Damien Lee

Starring: Michael Dudikoff, Billy Dee Williams, and Michelle Johnson




“It is not the same world at dawn as it is at dusk.”






Sonny McClean (Dude) is a bounty hunter who just wants to find the escaped criminals he’s assigned to find, then go home to his pregnant wife, Casey (Johnson). Of course, she wants him to quit the skip tracer game and get a less dangerous job. Sonny doesn’t necessarily disagree - but first he has to disentangle himself from a complex web involving being framed for murder and having to contend with two different factions of the Russian mob. 

In too deep, Sonny tries to enlist the help of his old buddy Don Racine (Williams), but will it be enough? Using only his wits (well, that and his fists), Sonny will have to fight the mobsters, clear his good name, and get home to his wife on time. Can he do it?

The fact that both Michael Dudikoff and Billy Dee Williams are both charming and likable are pretty much the only things that keep Moving Target afloat. Director Damian Lee - responsible for such unmitigated turkeys as Agent Red (2000), and, to be fair, decent movies like Last Man Standing (1987) - imbues the movie with an overall bleak feel, with nothing but cloudy, overcast skies and the bare trees and cold, snowy environs of the Canada all his movies seem to be set in. 

On top of that, Moving Target takes its sweet time, with some long, meandering bits in between the fight scenes or more relevant scenes.  But many of the cliches we’ve come to know and love are present and accounted for, such as the abandoned warehouse and the prerequisite torture scene (which naturally takes place in the abandoned warehouse).

Speaking of which, Dudikoff does get beat up a lot in this movie. The polar opposite of Seagal (who refuses to be punched or kicked, much less bested in a fight, just like in real life) - Dudikoff is getting wailed on in seemingly every other scene.  Perhaps that’s what he gets for continuing to be a bounty hunter, because the same year as Moving Target, he was also in Bounty Hunters (1996), with Bounty Hunters 2 (1997) following just a year later. It was fun to see a drunk and slurring Billy December Williams (that was part of his character, we’re assuming. And hoping.) - as much as Dudikoff gets beat up, Williams is drunkenly shambling around and swigging a beer. It was unusual for him, and we liked it. 

Michelle Johnson should have been insulted to play the stereotypical character of the grousing woman. Surely there are better roles for female actors than one-dimensional parts like this. However, she did show us that you can be part of a Lamaze class even if you’re not even close to showing with your baby. So that was helpful.

Not to be confused with the Don The Dragon movie of the same name from 2000 (or any other movie by this name), Moving Target features the mindless shooting and relatively inconsequential antics we’ve come to expect from Damian Lee. Only the two leads make this worth watching. Featuring a catchy song we believe to be called “Rock Me With Your Love” (typically, no artist is credited), Moving Target is hit-or-miss.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up by our buddy, DTVC!

Genuine Risk (1990)

Genuine Risk (1990)-* * *

Directed by: Kurt Voss

Starring: Peter Berg, Terence Stamp, Michelle Johnson, and Sid Haig







"Three lives. Three lovers. Three liars...GENUINE RISK...there's nothing genuine about it."






Genuine Risk is what you might call a "neo-noir" film, predating Hard Eight (1996), among other examples, and quite similar to most of the output of director John Dahl. His The Last Seduction (1994) also features Peter Berg. Perhaps Dahl saw Genuine Risk and recognized Berg as a new noir figure, the 90's answer to Dan Duryea? We may never know.

Berg puts in an engaging performance as Henry, a good-looking but down-on-his-luck dude who is addicted to betting on horse races and lives in a squalid apartment above a seedy L.A. bar. His buddy Jack (M.K. Harris) is a psychopathic gangster who works for Paul Hellwart (Stamp), the biggest, baddest, most intimidating crime lord in town. Needing money, Henry reluctantly agrees to work with Jack and become an employee of Hellwart. Next thing you know, Henry is mixed up with The Girl (Johnson), Hellwart's girlfriend. Uh Oh.

As stated earlier, Berg is quite good in this film. He is likable amid his difficult circumstances. He doesn't want to be a bad guy. He provides a good audience-identification character, as he's sort of roped in bit by bit into a life of crime. Not to take anything away from him, but I noted that Christian Slater also could have played the part of Henry. That would have been interesting. Terence Stamp is scary as Hellwart (great name), and there is an intriguing point about his character, that he was a pop star in the 60's in England under the name Paul Blaze, that might have been developed a bit more. Also one gets the feeling that Stamp wasn't firing on all cylinders, but that's okay, as it fits the moody style of the film. Sid Haig makes a welcome appearance as one of Hellwart's men.

Besides the Paul Blaze thing (The film was produced by Miles Copeland and the IRS record label, maybe they demanded a musical subplot?), there are some other half-baked ideas in "Genuine Risk". For example, the entire character of "The Girl". Even her lack of a name connotes zero character development. She doesn't say that much or do that much, and her "personality" is nil. it seems hard to believe Berg would fall in LOVE with her. Sure, she's hot but she's basically a human prop. And a rich, powerful crime boss like Hellwart could get any woman he wants, why he would unleash hell over "The Girl" seems a waste.

But ultimately, these are minor quibbles, as Genuine Risk (the title has at least two meanings, you have to watch the film to see what they are) is well worth watching. The lighting and cinematography, as well as the music, capture that noir feeling well, and there are some good performances and ideas. Genuine Risk is an underrated gem.

Comeuppance review by: Brett