Ah. We have been conned. Expert stunt co-ordinator-turned-director
David Barrett (he did stunts on Jurassic Park
III and Spider-Man) brings us
today’s Hard Bastard action, which turns out to be one of those direct-to-video
efforts that features a big star in a small supporting role, but canny
marketers have realised they can shift more units if they pretend said actor is
the main star of the movie.
So here we have Fire With Fire, the story of fireman Jeremy
Coleman (Transformers’ Josh Duhamel) who realises that the witness protection
program cannot keep the people he loves safe from the vicious Aryan perpetrators
of a murder he witnessed, so decides to track the villains down and eliminate
them himself. Bruce Willis is Mike Cella, a cop who takes an interest in Jeremy’s
case, as his own partner was murdered by Aryan ringleader Hagan (Vincent d’Onofrio)
and has been looking to nail the son of a bitch for years. As Jeremy takes down
Hagan’s gang one by one, utilising skills taught to him by U.S. Marshall
girlfriend Talia (Rosario Dawson), herself targeted by Hagan’s goons, Cella
helps to keep him one step ahead of the law and the bad guys so that justice
can be served. It’s a small role for Bruce, proving that even the action greats
are not above starring in DTV drivel to take a quick paycheck, but those sneaky
marketing bastards have put Bruce’s face up front and centre on the DVD cover
to make it look like he’s the star of the show, when in actual fact he spends
most of the movie behind a bloody desk. So, anyone picking this one up
expecting another Die Hardstyle
explode-a-thon could be in for a rough ride, though that’s not to say Bruce
doesn’t get to have few creditable badass moments…
Despite not having a
whole lot to get his teeth into, Bruce makes the most of a small part, very believable
as the frustrated cop who refuses to yield in his quest to bring a criminal to
justice, while the rest of the world turns a blind eye. Hagan’s intimidation of
witnesses has meant that he remains at large, and this time Cella is determined
that the sucker will go down no matter what. He knows that by putting Jeremy on
the stand will put the boy’s life in danger, but he needs him to testify,
otherwise he knows this Nazi creep will continue spreading hatred and evil. He
spends the whole of his limited screen time simmering away, waiting for his chance
to explode with rage, assuring his fellow cops that ‘If they want him, they’re
gonna have to go through me!’ It’s
interesting to see Bruce play a more restrained role and during his talky good
cop/bad cop scenes with his partner (played by Bonnie Somerville –Mona from Friends), you can just see it in his
eyes that he can’t wait to get out
there and bust some heads. Face to face with Hagan’s fast-talking sleazy
lawyer, who insists his client is innocent, Cella erupts, ‘How can you say that
shit with a straight face?!?, before
being restrained. Bruce may be a little older, but the Die Hard man is most definitely still in there, waiting to burst
out and blow shit up.
Cella, for the most
part, has to settle for living vicariously through Jeremy as he is the first to
twig on to what the vengeful firefighter is up to. He has several chances to
bring evidence to light that would seriously screw up Jeremy’s quest, but does
his best to keep the young buck ahead of the game. At one point he almost puts
out an A.P.B. on the kid after he offs Vinnie Jones’ Limey enforcer, but
changes his mind, waiting to see where all this is going. When fingerprints are
found, Cella insists that the results must come to him and only him, looking to keep Jeremy on the streets for as long as it
suits him. He may not be kicking ass in the traditional sense, but in this one
Bruce is most definitely the man pulling the strings. At one point he explains
his position to Jeremy, saying, ‘I want ‘em dead and buried just as much as you
do. But, I’m a cop…’ You can tell he’s getting a kick out of Jeremy’s
vigilantism, because under different circumstances it could quite easily be him out there, and he knows it.
Despite being kept down
by bureaucratic bullshit, Cella still gets his chance to shine, when he’s
called to a meeting with Hagan who tries to intimidate him too. Taunted and threatened
by the bigot and his armed cronies, the tough guy detective doesn’t back down.
He just fires that cheeky smirk at them that we know so well, a look that says
he doesn’t give rat’s ass what these guys are saying: it’s time to put up or
shut up! Refusing to compromise, Cella swaggers away from the meeting, and when
one of Hagan’s thugs tries to stop him, he effortless beats the guy down in
seconds, a sign that he’s still got a deadly tiger in the tank. Later, just
when it looks like he’s about to bring Jeremy in, he reveals his hand, telling
him, ‘You can’t do this on your own,’ before letting him go free to face Hagan
in a final, deadly encounter.
Fire With Fire is a serviceable enough little action thriller, with
some brutal action sequences and some real edge-of-the-seat moments, though it’s
a real shame that Bruce doesn’t get involved more often. He definitely does
wonders with a small part and his mere presence helps to lift the film to a
whole other level, though straight-to-DVD is almost certainly where this one
belongs. If anything, Bruce’s scowling, pissed off, Hard Bastard kicking out
against the system act definitely whets the appetite for another Die Hard instalment which will thankfully
be making its way to theatres very soon! Yippie-ki-yay!!!
BRUCE’S RATING:
INDESTRUCTIBILITY: 4/10 – Doesn’t really see a whole lot of
action, though you get the impression he could definitely handle it.
COMBAT SKILLS: 3/10 – Only punches one dude, but does it
with such style that you ust know there’s plenty more where that came from.
ATTITUDE: 7/10 – Fights the good fight from behind a desk,
so the youn g upstart can wage his war on the streets.
OUTRAGEOUSNESS: 3/10 – Bends the rules to breaking point to
bring a baddie to justice, but doesn’t jump through any windows or crash any
cars. Disappointing.
BODY COUNT: Possibly one in 97 minutes – rubbish. 1/10
BRUCE’S SCORE: 18/50
So, it has only been
a week of this action movie business, but I have to confess I am being sucked
right into this world of violent, explosive manliness. By going into the
viewing experience with a healthy respect for the rules and clichés of the
genre, I have been able to get a kick out of critically-neglected DTV efforts
like Fire With Fire. Movies that have
garnered quite pitiful ratings on sites like IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes are
proving to be thoroughly entertaining, once I accept what the filmmakers and
the Hard Bastard involved have been trying to achieve. It has been an
entertaining ride so far, and I am curious as to how I will feel about all this
a little further down the line. Cheers!
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