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12 Rounds (2009)

Director: Renny Harlin

Time Out rating

Average user rating

5 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Movie heroes can be smart or dumb. They can be good or evil, brave or cowardly. But it’s hard to remember an action hero as mind-numbingly dull as John Cena’s Detective Danny Fisher in this ’90s action throwback. Fisher is an everyday New Orleans beat cop, complete with jowly dog, button-cute fiancée and white picket fence, until he accidentally bumps off the girlfriend of sadistic arms dealer, Miles Jackson (Aidan Gillen). In time-honoured bad-guy tradition, Miles isn’t interested in straightforward revenge, preferring to subject poor Danny to the Herculean tasks of the title, which include stopping a runaway streetcar and, er, saving a fat guy stuck in a lift. There’s a decent little action movie somewhere inside ‘12 Rounds’: a bit more complexity of character, a few more jokes and a hero who doesn’t look like a two-by-four with a buzz cut might have gone a long way. As it is, this is occasionally diverting but ultimately laborious.

Author: Tom Huddleston

Time Out London Issue 2023, May 28 - June 3, 2009

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User reviews of this film

Jay said...

Posted on May 29 2009 08:59 Me and my brother saw this a few days ago and thought it was a very good film it got boring in some parts and dragged on a bit but we both enjoyed it john cena isnt realy the "actor" type but he was great in marine and hes a kick ass wrestler they could of made it better but i was still a good film

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Adam said...

Posted on May 28 2009 21:10 I went to see this film last night and have to say its crap ive never come out of a cinema before thinkin a film was crap it had its moments that were good but it was a total rip off die hard with a vengence and speed! and the acting is crap

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Justin Berkovi said...

Posted on May 28 2009 13:44 I totally disagree for once with TimeOut here. 12 Rounds isn't intelligent and Cena doesn't have to be the deepest character to pull off what I thought was a fine performance.
12 Rounds is a great escapist pile of enjoyable nonsense but it's well shot, slickly edited and I found it simply great fun. What is also worth noting is that the director didn't fall into the trap of undressing Cena at all - instead he broods around like a simple hulk of a man...but I quite liked that and look forward to seeing him in more films.
Remember that action stars sometimes start out like this and develop over time - for me Cena does had screen presence and if you leave your brain at the door you'll enjoy this film.

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valisha said...

Posted on May 27 2009 15:44 im going to see the film tomo and matt whatever im sureits a wicked film seen the preveiwsand anyways john cena is fine he is gawjuss and the marine was a sucess im guessing this will be too

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Matt said...

Posted on May 27 2009 13:58 This has got to be one of the worst films I have ever seen. I actually fell asleep whilst watching it and had to leave early.

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