Icarus

It makes sense for somebody whose a veteran actor of a specific genre to eventually be a producer, writer or director for said movie. Many a genre stalwart-Angela Bettis, Robert Englund, and Bruce Campbell have all taken a part of directing films, for better or for worse. So for someone like Dolph Lungren, it makes sense, as he's been a veteran of macho action films for a long time, and has already directed some titles in said genre. Which leads to this film, "The Killing Machine."

Dolph stars as Edward Genn, a divorced father and investment broker, whose living a double life. You see, he also used to be a dangerous KGB assassin known as "Icarus." Well, the past comes back to haunt him in the Russian mob, and when they go after his family, it's time to strike back.

As you can tell, "The Killing Machine" is pretty much your meat and potatoes style action/revenge movie. Thankfully, said meal isn't unappetizing, though it's certainly not spectacular. This comes from Anchor Bay, who at least seem to have an eye when it comes to direct to DVD action fair, in that said movies have good production values. It's also got enough bloody violence to satiate fans of mindless action fare, and it's all done with relish without feeling like overkill. Lundgren himself does a fine job as the former assassin, doing what he can with the rather basic material (though I had to turn on the subtitles whenever he delivered a monologue), and it's always fun to see Bo Svenson, here acting with a very unconvincing Russian accent. That's just fine though, as it adds to the escapist tone of the whole thing.

If there are any problems, it's the direction and a few other performances. Sure, Lundgren will always be a convincing bad ass, but as a director, there isn't a whole lot about his style that sticks out (though it's nice to see someone not resort to hyperactive editing choices), as it's all done straightforward to the point of feeling a bit vanilla. Also, Stefanie Von Pfetten and Lindsay Maxwell deliver performances that could only be described as "unsatisfactory at best." They're really bad here, and kinda drag thing down whenever they show up, though they are pretty attractive.

As a whole, "The Killing Machine" isn't bad for a weekend afternoon action movie. It's serviceable enough, though it's more passable than it is exciting to be honest.

When I picked up and read the DVD box for this Dolph Lundgren movie, my heart sank when I saw it was being distributed by Cinetel Films. For those who don't know, Cinetel Films makes extremely cheap genre movies padded out with stock footage from big-budget Hollywood movies. Actually, the production values for this movie are somewhat higher. It is clearly a low budget movie, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't look as cheap as usual. (And there's no stock footage.) Other things good about the movie are some decent action sequences and Dolph giving another likable, charismatic performance. And it's nice to see a Canadian movie actually set in Canada (for the most part), though the use of Vancouver is so generic the movie could have been set anywhere.

Unfortunately, the movie still has some serious problems. There are a few poor special effects. Some dialogue is hard to make out. The camera-work for the movie is awful - it always seems the camera is jiggling or in someone's unsteady hands. In fairness to Lundgren (who was also the director), he was reportedly given less shooting time than usual, and also was constrained considerably by the producers. So I don't blame him for the movie's faults. Still, the movie is probably only for die-hard Lundgren fans, and they should probably wait until it appears on cable so they won't feel ripped off when watching it.

Businessman Edward Genn (Dolph Lundgren) is actually a former KGB agent who defected to the US just before the Soviet Union collapsed and has been making his real living as a hit-man-for-hire. Naturally, he didn't tell his ex-wife (Stefanie von Pfetten), who he has a daughter with. But she finds out soon enough when her family is in the crossfire of a mob war led by Eddie's old comrade Vadim (Bo Svenson). This is Lundgren's sixth effort as a director and, surprisingly, it is his worst effort behind the camera so far thanks mostly to a lame script and that pesky jittery camera work. The prospect of Dolph teaming with fellow Swede Svenson is enticing, but they really only have 5 minutes on screen. There are lots of fights/shootings but Dolph films them all terribly, which is strange given his penchant for well-shot action displayed previous to this. The worst is he has fallen into the Hollywood cliché of shaky-cam/crash zooms, even during quiet dialog scenes. Not as bad as Stallone did with THE EXPENDABLES, but still annoying.

First of all, some reviewers should keep their hopes and expectations in check; this is not "True Lies 2", it doesn't even tries to. This is not a multimillion dollar action comedy with state of the art effects, stunts and actors. But if you're looking for a decent, entertaining little action flic with a small budget a story ripped right out of a 80's/90's script of a Golan/Globus production, this is for you. The story is really easy to tell: former KGB-agent turned husband and father turned assassin for the Russian Mob becomes a target and got to save his own skin. The mediocre script works thanks to a charming leading man in Lundgren and a capable director (Lundgren again) who focuses enough on the action bits to make you forget about the plot holes or some of the cringe-worthy dialogue. What keeps this movie from being a great nostalgic action trip is the lack of money. There are no big explosions or chase sequences but mostly gunbattles and fistfights (at least Dolph seem to make most of the stunts himself). And while the titular hit-man seems to travel the whole world from china to Hollywood, everything looks like shot in good ol'Canada. But with a bigger budget I'm quite sure Lundgren could give his buddy Stallone a run for his money as an director of old fashioned, testosterone fueled action-cinema. So maybe I've got to see a big budget sequel to "Red Scorpion" anytime soon! ;-)

Dolph Lundgren is one of those actors that either makes a hit or miss type of action film. Now I do like him, although growing up I didn't seek out his movies, I was more interested in Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan and Jean Claude Van Damme, but Dolph is one of those actors that have a likable quality at least I feel is appealing and charming, even if he's in films that are sometimes over the top.

This was the best film he made in awhile and surprisingly he directed it himself. The film is your typical hit-man with a family, that gets caught up in his dangerous life type. But Dolph made it fun and at least a little fresh.

The body count is satisfying as well as the action scenes, and decently paced. The story is what you've seen before but I feel Dolph made it fun with some OK twists here and there. There are one liners Dolph says but kept to a minimum, because it's more of a serious movie than a tongue-in-cheek one. I originally seen this back in 2013 and I loved it, I was like finally a good Dolph Lundgren movie, because before I had only seen him in some crappy films that were forgettable and they really sucked, you know, really disappointing.

Overall a good film from start to finish and very re-watchable as well. I give it a 5/10. If your an action fan or a Dolph Lundgren fan, honestly check it out. Highly recommended.