"The Marine 4: Moving Target" succeeds as mindless entertainment. It is related only thematically to "The Marine" (2006), sharing only the basic common elements: a highly capable and decorated former marine attempting to adjust to civilian life, a damsel in distress and a group of ruthless villains with enough firepower to invade the Falklands.
It was produced on a tenth of the budget of the original and its limitations are obvious. The fight choreography is solid, although not of the caliber seen in "Furious 7" or "The Raid." Car chases are fairly lame, on the level of television dramas. The script is an embarrassment, particularly compared to the clever plots developed for the "12 Rounds" movies. Dialogue is hackneyed. Character development is essentially nonexistent. The plot is a rehash of "Eraser" without the locations, character backgrounds, special effects and (thankfully) without that ridiculous portable rail gun.
Given that they haven't anything particularly interesting to say, the actors do a credible job. Mike 'The Miz' Mizanin is believable evincing the virtues of the Marine Corps while feeling awkward in civilian life and uncertain of how to act without clear orders. Josh Blacker is convincing as the relentless, remorseless adversary. They are both adept in the fight scenes. Melissa Roxburgh is not the most gifted thespian to grace a WWE production, but is believable when she stands around looking gorgeous and slightly vulnerable. However, she wears too many clothes throughout. A little more skin would have made her seem more vulnerable and boosted the sexual tension. MacCaull and Moinet do as well as can be expected with what they're given.
The producers might have gotten more bang for their limited bucks by investing more in script development to make the characters more complex, interesting and sympathetic. As a mindless vicarious adrenalin fix, the fight scenes are satisfying and occur with sufficient frequency to compensate for the disappointing car chases and gun battles.
