Final Score, UK movie (2018)

“So, did you see the soccer game last night?” I can’t remember the number of times I have heard that line said in the place where I work. I have never understood the appeal of running around on a big green field chasing a ball. (But then again, I hate sports altogether, so I am probably not the best person to talk about this). It becomes even more “fun” for me when grown men and women go into these lengthy discussions about what their favorite teams did right or wrong in a particular match and they become all emotional about it as well. “That referee should let his eyes get checked out” or “ Jeez, that goal so and so made was so incredible”. Uggh, fun times indeed. Well, people probably think the same about me when I get emotional about a great movie or anime that I saw, so yeah it’s probably best that I just stop talking about how much I hate soccer and get to the real point of all this. Namely a review of this fun new action flick starring Dave “ Guardians of the Galaxy” Bautista. And yep, you might have guessed it from both the title and this little intro, it has something to do with soccer. But not in the way you might think though.

My name is Bond, James Bond. Erm…no I guess it isn’t.

Michael Knox is a former soldier who still tries to come to terms with the loss of his brother in Afghanistan. He cares very much for his young niece, a rebellious teenager called Danni who has had her own struggles with accepting the death of her father. Michael decides to take her to a big soccer match in order for the both of them to spend some time together. Which would have been a very good idea, were it not for the fact that a bunch of Russian terrorists have targeted the match. An enormous amount of explosives are set to go off in the stadium, unless their demands are met. Michael soon finds himself right in the middle of this, and matters are not really helped when his niece disappears on him. With the aid of a nervous venue staffer called Faisal, the ex-soldier begins the search for his niece. But time is running out for Michael, as the clock ticks down to the end of the match and possibly the end of all the lives in the stadium….

I love the fashion sense that these girls have.

Do you remember the 80’s action flicks? Where we had good old Stallone and Schwarzenegger lead the charge in over the top, totally not credible but oh so much fun action flicks? This one pretty much almost feels like it was made in that era. It has a B-movie vibe, but one that at least for me did not fail to really conjure up some stupid grins on my face during a couple of great action sequences. Yes it’s a cheesy movie and sometimes has some horrible lines in it too. One that especially made me cringe was when Michael was fighting with the lead terrorist in trying to obtain the trigger to the explosives. A police officer was shouting to him to not let him trigger the detonator. No, really? That’s so helpful indeed! Sorry, for my sarcasm but trust me when I say that I really did enjoy this movie a lot. It doesn’t try to pretend to be anything else but an action film and pretty much has all the cliches in it that we have seen before. Yes, it’s yet another Die Hard clone, but even so, it’s a very enjoyable one.

He hates soccer so much that he decided to turn the match into a dirtbike event!

Dave Bautista carries this movie starring as the reluctant hero Michael. What he lacks in acting skills, he makes up for in charm. You can’t help but form a bond with this guy and you want nothing more than seeing him administer his own form of justice on the lowlife thugs. Speaking of them, they are just your basic stereotype villains. Ray Stevenson plays the role of the main terrorist, and does a good enough job in portraying a pretty loathsome individual. It’s interesting to see that it seems we are almost getting back to the time of the cold war. So many movies have Americans pitted against Russians  that it almost seems to me that World War III is imminent again. Let’s hope not, but it is a sign of the times we seem to be living in. One would almost forget that Pierce Brosnan is in this films as well. The former Bond actor, has a relatively minor role, but a very important one. And it seems that he had fun playing it too, not withholding the terrible Russian accent he has. (One often has to wonder why they bother with doing those accents in the first place).

Don’t tell me: I’m late for dinner?

The script not surprisingly isn’t a highly original one. It borrows heavily from another similar action movie that you might recall, called Sudden Death starring the “ Muscles from Brussels”. But I wasn’t really bothered by that in the least. As a lover of action films, I just had a great time with this movie. My taste in films is very diverse, but sometimes I just need something simple and fun to reset my brain. This film pretty much served that purpose. Some nice fistfights, chase scenes and shoot-outs combined with a likeable lead, made this into an entertaining ride from start to finish. It would almost get me to like soccer. Well, no I didn’t believe that last one either. Anyways, this certainly won’t be a movie for everyone, but if you like simple but fun action movies, I highly recommend checking this one out. It won’t blow your mind, but it will in all likelyhood give you a great night off after a long hard day’s work. So, let’s see now, what’s my final score?

I give Final Score a 8 out of 10 score.