Ever since he burst into the boxing ring as ‘Siberian Express’ Ivan Drago in ROCKY IV, threatening to break Rocky Balboa, Dolph Lundgren has continually proved to be the go-to-man for B-movie exploitation and as he enters the same twilight phase as his opposite Sylvester Stallone in that early film, the demand for his presence in all manner of content remains undiminished.
Given the current worldwide situation, online and downloaded content is going to be more in demand than ever – and for those who need a bit of an action fix to escape the challenges need look no further than Lundgren’s latest offering, ACCELERATION.
Rhona (Natalie Burn) is tasked by crime boss Vladik (Lundgren) with a simple one-night assignment – carry out five tasks against his rivals so that she can regain access to her son Mika (Dobromir Mashukov). You see, she and her associate, drug-crazed loser Richie (Jason London) tried to get some guns under the nose of Vladik’s main rival Kane (Sean Patrick Flannery) – and he is just a little bit miffed.
Inevitably, Rhona is not going to take this lightly, but has to deal with the stubborn insistence of Vladik, as well as a whole slew of dark-cornered sleaze-balls regardless of gender who may just try and stop her from getting what she wants….
Co-directed by Michael Merino and Daniel Zirilli from a script by Merino, ACCELERATION has limited and low-end appeaL to even the most ardent and dedication action fans. The main idea is a direct lift from the infinitely superior and far tenser Michael Mann/Tom Cruise/Jamie Foxx starrer COLLATERAL, right down to the digital visual style that was a pioneering vision back in 2004 when that film first came out.
The predictability of the idea and set-up will be spotted a mile off and although it maintains a consistent atmosphere throughout the film, with some admittedly well-staged physical action and gun-fights, you do hope that there was a little more raising of stakes in the film. Perhaps the low-end B-movie style of this film doesn’t do it any favours, considering that action movies are a bit more flamboyant and extravagant thanks to the likes of the MARVEL Universe which is simply the biggest thing on the planet at the moment.
Leading the line, Burn does try her best to be the strong minimally verbal type along the lines of Gina Carano in the likes of HAYWIRE and has a touch of Rhona Mitra and Kate Beckinsale / UNDERWORLD about her, but alongside Lundgren is limited by the material which does belong, like the film, back in the decade he debuted in.
Minor cameos from veterans Danny Trejo and Sally Kirkland, who makes a brief but underused appearance here are not enough to give it the grandeur of a Tarantino, who would have done a lot more with the limited material on here.
One for the low-end of the streaming market.
Acceleration will be available on Digital Download from 6th April and is available for Pre-Order here
