Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe

Fans who only know Bruce from Burn Notice might feel that this movie isn't as tightly plotted as usual and focuses too much on comedy. Bruce-only fans meanwhile will probably be surprised find Bruce playing it more straight than usual.

But if, like me, you love both Bruce AND Burn Notice, you'll lap this up! It comes across a little like a TV movie version of Romancing the Stone, with a sharper political edge. Writer/creator Matt Nix clearly has a somewhat jaundiced view of US foreign policy in Central America.

Bruce, as always, lifts the whole thing with his charisma - he's like a more self-aware, mocking version of James Garner and Matt Nix cleverly plants lots of in-jokes for both Burn Notice fans and Evil Dead-ites alike. Jeffrey Donovan's cameo felt a little forced, but other than that it's all good.

If you're immune to both Bruce and Burn Notice you'll spend your time finding fault with the accuracy of the thing. Otherwise you'll just sit back and be entertained by a fun action/comedy for 90 minutes.

The long anticipated prequel to the Burn Notice series answered many of our nagging questions about the series and Sam Axe in particular; but, posed even more. Matt Nix (the writer) and Bruce Campbell (the actor) played the Sam Axe character true to the form we would expect of a former Navy SEAL, if anything even more so. Affable, caring, not taking himself too seriously -- but with a high sense of loyalty and duty as well as street savvy. For the most part, a "squared away" SEAL - except that most of those guys that I'm acquainted with are quite a bit more serious, and anything but easy going.

Unfortunately, not all the show's characters fared the same. Don't get me wrong, none were poor actors; just that, some were weaker than others. And, most were appropriate for the genre and situation; but, just as in the series, some were written unbelievably stupid, or uni-dimensional or repetitive. Matt does seem to have a bit of a penchant for writing controlling shrews as lead female characters.

The director, Jeffery Donovan (Michael in the series), and writer are apparently much more acquainted with crooks, thugs and terrorists than they are with anything military. Guns, bombs and thugs are portrayed with amazing accuracy but anything military (especially Navy) seems to end at the mere term: "Navy SEAL." Supposedly Mr. Nix relies heavily on spy consultants but no one associated with the show appears to have even served in the military. No attempt seems to have been made to even approximate the correct insignias, uniforms, badges or military law (J.A.G) processes.

None-the-less, the series isn't about the military, TV budgets aren't the same as movies, Jeffery is a beginning director, and Matt... well he's Matt, one of a kind. The character-driven story was so compelling that, if you didn't look too deeply, or become annoyed with the characterizations, it was two hours well spent. Followers of the series will not be disappointed and will be well served with the new explanations, the new questions to answer, the expansion on a well-liked character, AND a great filler to a terribly long season hiatus.

I'm a big Burn Notice fan, and I deem Bruce Campbell a god among men. This was tailor made for me, right?

The Fall of Sam Axe tells the origin story of our titular hero, his early antics and adventures in the deep jungles of Columbia.

It sets itself apart from the show well and doesn't really utilize the other cast much. It does however still feel like Burn Notice, what with the familiar beloved character, story development style and narration.

I was concerned whether it would work but as Campbell has proven time and time again he works just fine as a leading man. Combine that with a surprisingly great supporting cast including Pedro "Game of Thrones" Pascal and the roster is a solid one.

Maintaining that perfect balance of seriousness and comedic elements this spinoff movie is really enjoyable, heartfelt and a very worthy addition to the Burn Notice franchise.

Burn Notice with even more Bruce Campbell? Yes please!

The Good:

Great cast

That Burn Notice charm

Beautiful scenery

The Bad:

Nothing springs to mind

As a long-time Bruce fan (I first saw Evil Dead in the early 90's, not realizing the man already had a cult fan base), I enjoyed every scene Bruce was in, and since he was in virtually every scene in the film, obviously I enjoyed most of the film. The doctor guy was annoying, the love interest was whiny but an OK foil, the teen girl was hot but evidently found the scenery too tempting to resist gobbling up in big bites. The villains were competently played but telegraphed oily evil immediately, losing all sense of suspense there.

It was predictable and a bit preachy, and the mention of the SOA was bordering on heavy-handed, but Bruce charms and smirks his way through it and makes an otherwise forgettable bit of tripe an actual pleasure to watch. It is significant, however, that no one but him could have.

Of course, one doesn't watch Bruce Campbell for the outstanding special effects (Alien Apocalypse, anyone?), the great supporting cast (The Man with the Screaming Brain?), or the realistic, down-to-earth plots (any Evil Dead you care to name), one watches for Bruce. By that standard, this movie does fine.

For whatever reason I never knew this even existed and just watched it this night (6-26-13).

The movie itself was nothing to write home about but was nice to see Sam being Sam.

With Burn Notice ending after this season I am actually glad I didn't know about this till now as it was the beginning to the end of a TV show I greatly enjoyed.

For such a hodgepodge character set I was always amazed that they made it work. Campbell's character was a big part of its success and quite possibly its glue.

If you are a fan of the show it is worth watching.