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From the B-Movie Vault: The Marine 4: Moving Target and The Marine 5: Battleground
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From the B-Movie Vault Issue #12: The Marine 4: Moving Target and The Marine 5: Battleground
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the latest From the B-Movie Vault. I’m Bryan Kristopowitz.
Despite The Marine 3: Homefront being generally bad, the direct-to-video action flick clearly made enough money for WWE Studios and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, as they all wanted another movie in the The Marine franchise with Mike “The Miz” Mizanin as The Marine, changing the casting trajectory of the franchise. I mean, the first three The Marine movies had three different stars, with John Cena starring in the first one, Ted DiBiase, Jr. doing the second one, and The Miz doing the third. Why didn’t the WWE pick someone else to do part 4?
I don’t know. The Miz must have been enough. And when they got around to part 5 and changed distributors (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment took over for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment), The Miz must have still been enough since he did that one, too. The Miz ended his tenure in the franchise with part 6, and so far that is the last The Marine movie. Will we get another one at some point? I know I’d be down for a few more, but who knows? Maybe a streamer will want one. You’d think Peacock would have asked for one, since they’re still in cahoots with the WWE. Maybe Netflix will want one when Monday Night Raw goes to Netflix in 2025?
I guess we’ll see.
And so, without any further what have you, check out my reviews of The Marine 4: Moving Target and The Marine 5: Battleground as I complete my look back on the The Marine franchise. They originally appeared at the end of August, 2017. Enjoy.
Author’s Note: You will see me refer to “The Miz Trilogy” when describing how many The Marine movies The Miz made during these reviews, which were written before The Marine 6: Close Quarters was released, making “The Miz Trilogy” into the “The Miz Quadrilogy.” I just want to make that clear before you continue. I’ve also provided a link to my review of The Marine 6: Close Quarters at the very end, which has my definitive ranking of the six movies in the The Marine franchise. So, go ahead and check that out after checking out these two reviews. Thanks.
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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Issue #424: The Marine 4: Moving Target
The Marine Marathon: Week 4
Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that has never been ambushed by high priced, heavily armed mercenaries in the woods (or anywhere, really), The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number four hundred and twenty-four, The Marine Marathon continues with the second part of “The Miz Trilogy,” The Marine 4: Moving Target, which was released on home video in mid-April 2015.
The Marine 4: Moving Target
The Marine 4: Moving Target, directed by the great William Kaufman, is a big improvement over the previous entry, The Marine 3: Homecoming. The story is better, the action is better, and it feels like an actual, complete movie. The presence of The Miz is still a big problem, but it isn’t as big of a problem as in Homecoming. Outside of just having another pro wrestler in the movie, I’m still trying to figure out why Summer Rae is in it. More on that later.
So anyway, Moving Target picks up after the events of Homecoming with the Miz’s “badass” Marine Sgt. Jake Carter just out of the corps and getting ready to start his new civilian job as a professional bodyguard for a company known as Hawthorne Global Security. Carter’s first assignment for Hawthorne is protecting a corporate whistleblower named Olivia Tanis (Melissa Roxburgh). Tanis is some sort of hip and edgy tech worker/hacker type who has access to incriminating information on Genesis Defense Corporation, a major defense contractor. I’m still trying to figure out what, exactly, Genesis did that was so wrong (I think they sold the U.S. military, among other things, faulty body armor), but you know it’s bad because, at the very beginning of the movie, we see a super-secret computer at Genesis looking to acquire the services of Vogel, who is some sort of badass “asset”/professional assassin/mercenary. We don’t really know that when we first see the name “Vogel,” but then who or what else could Vogel be? Tanis is a handful when we and Carter first meet her, as she doesn’t trust the federal government or, really, anyone else. She’s scared to death that Genesis is going to send someone after her. Carter and his fellow Hawthorne colleagues, including Carter’s old pal Daniels (Craig Veroni), try to keep Tanis calm, but, again, she’s scared. When are the Genesis people going to get her? And who the hell is this Carter guy?
It doesn’t take long for the hooey to hit the fan and for Vogel and his fellow Genesis mercenaries to show up as they attack the Hawthorne security caravan. Trucks explode, windows are shot out, and just about every member of the Hawthorne security team is killed (the federal agents that handed Tanis over to the Hawthorne people are also killed). Carter manages to survive the attack, though, and takes out several of the Genesis mercs while moving Tanis into the woods. After killing a few more mercs, Carter manages to steal a truck and get Tanis to a Hawthorne safe house that’s near a lake. While trying to regroup, Tanis freaks out because she can’t figure out how the hell this Carter guy survived the attack and isn’t sure she should trust him. Carter, meanwhile, just wants Tanis to accept his protection so he can then figure out what their next step should be. Call the cops? Call the feds? Are the Genesis mercs going to find them?
While all of that is going, Daniels and fellow protector/attack survivor Ethan Smith (Mathew MacCaull) show up at the safe house. How did they survive? Carter holds both of them at gunpoint and demands an explanation. Daniels tries to explain how he and Smith survived the caravan ambush, but before he can do that Smith shoots him in the head and reveals himself to be a secret Genesis employee. Smith then threatens to shoot Carter if he doesn’t divulge Tanis’s location. Carter, being the “badass” Marine that he is, fake negotiates with Smith and then beats the shit out of him. Carter escapes the safe house with Tanis at his side and Vogel and Genesis reinforcements nearby. How the hell are they going to get out of this?
So then some stuff happens, Tanis decides to run off on her own (she knocks Carter out with a rock to the back of the head), and the story shifts to a small town in the middle of nowhere. Tanis finds a police station and attempts to explain what the hell is going on. The local detective, Paul Redman (Paul McGillion), sort of believes her, but her story seems so insane. Heavily armed mercenaries out to kill her? How often does that kind of thing happen in a small northwest town? Carter eventually comes to and finds the local police and explains what’s going on. Unlike Tanis, no one believes a word Carter says. While all of that is going on, Smith calls up Redman and feeds him a fake story about Carter and Tanis being dangerous. Redman believes Smith because why wouldn’t he? Carter and Tanis are quickly placed into custody.
Smith shows up at the police station and tries to use his credentials to get Carter and Tanis placed into his custody. Before that can happen, though, Vogel and what’s left of his Genesis merc team show up and kill damn near every cop in the building. Basically, Vogel is through fucking around and wants Tanis and Carter dead and he and his merc team will do anything they can to finish the job. And while all of that is going on, Carter devises a plan to get out of the police station, rescue Tanis, and kill as many of the Genesis mercs as he can. Carter is still a goddamn Marine, and Marines never quit.
The rest of the movie is one long chase after Carter and Tanis manage to get out of the police station and back to the woods. It’s in the woods that Carter, with his Marine Special Forces training, can gain the upper hand. He may be outnumbered, but odds are the mercs don’t have the wilderness training that he has. Vogel might, but his underlings? And Smith? Doubtful.
What I like most about Moving Target is that it has no problem being essentially one big chase movie chock full of action, both gun battles and hand-to-hand brawls. Even when it slows down to allow the audience (and the characters) to catch their breath there’s still a palpable sense of dread about what the heck is going to happen next. We all know that the bad guys aren’t going to stop looking for Tanis and that they will do just about anything to complete their assignment. And if the Genesis mercs are willing to kill an entire police force simply because they can, in broad daylight, how is Carter going to stop them? The Genesis mercs are vicious bastards through and through. They kill damn near everyone via headshot, and they enjoy shooting people who are clearly already dead just to make sure that they are actually dead. Only truly awful bad guys would do something like that, especially after multiple massive car bombs and a machine gun assault. How the hell are the Hawthorne people supposed to survive an onslaught like that?
When the movie enters the woods and it becomes a kind of First Blood/Rambo: First Blood Part II kind of deal where Carter kills the bad guys using his wilderness survival training, it’s kind of hard to believe that Carter would have the time to put together all of the lethal traps that are waiting for the Genesis crew. At the same time, even though he’s playing a “badass” Marine Special Forces Operator, it’s still hard to believe that the Miz is the guy with all of the necessary skills to build flying spike traps and whatnot. The action and fighting are good, though, so at least the movie has that stuff going for it. And I must say that the aftermath of the traps is bloodier and nastier than I expected. I’m always down for that kind of thing, even if it isn’t all that believable.
The Miz does a better job in this movie as Jake Carter, but it’s still hard to take him as a full on badass hero. His fight scenes are fairly well done and he looks good beating the crap out of the bad guys (I like his flying Rock Bottom move in the safe house brawl). The Miz also doesn’t look out of place wielding various submachine guns and rifles, which is always a plus. He still has an “integrity” problem, though. Every time he says something heroic or something that helps explain his badass Marine background you just want him to stop talking because it sounds like bullshit. The Miz also has zero chemistry with Melissa Roxburgh, Tanis, which is a real problem. In this kind of movie, you really need the two leads to have some sort of chemistry. But then you never really like Tanis anyway, even if you sympathize with her plight. Roxburgh is a good actress, but, at the same time, I just wish I could have liked her. It would have helped the movie tremendously.
Josh Blacker, who plays Vogel, is a rat bastard mercenary that you want to see go down hard. He’s vicious, he’s mean, he’s just awful. He comes off as exactly the kind of guy a greedy corporation would hire to take out a whistleblower. He has good bad guy chemistry with Mathew MacCaull’s Ethan Smith, who is just as awful as Vogel. However, am I the only one who noticed how Vogel and Smith, despite being partners in trying to track down and kill Tanis, hate one another and want to kill one another? It’s not like they say to one another “I hate you and I want to kill you,” but there are moments where they talk to one another and the tension between them is electric. It’s too bad they never fight in the movie. I bet it would have been interesting.
Now, when it comes to WWE Diva Summer Rae’s appearance in the movie, I don’t quite understand what she adds to the movie beyond a name that pro wrestling nerds will recognize. Summer Rae actually does a decent job as the Genesis mercenary Rachel Dawes. She can fight and she doesn’t look ridiculous holding a gun. Her character doesn’t say anything until well past the half-way mark, and while she’s introduced as a super sniper of some sort, she’s never labeled in the movie as especially dangerous. She does fight the Miz, but their big scene together is just an action scene. It isn’t a big moment in the movie at all. And the way her character is dispatched is played as just another body for the pile. Rachel Dawes could have been played by anyone, any female stunt person, or any female actor who could hold a gun convincingly. Perhaps she should have played the Tanis character, or some other, meatier character (why not have her play a cop that teams up with Carter to protect Tanis after her fellow cops are killed? That would have made more sense to me). A missed opportunity. I do think that Summer Rae, if she decides to get out of the pro wrestling business, could make a viable go of it as a direct-to-video action star.
The Marine 4: Moving Target is a step in the right direction for The Marine franchise. It’s a pretty good action movie that’s a vast improvement over the last one. The Miz needs to work on his on screen integrity, though. I don’t know how he can “fix” that, but it’s something that, if he keeps making movies like Moving Target, he’s going to have to work on. He’s not quite there yet. Moving Target is worth seeing, though. That I’m very sure of.
See The Marine 4: Moving Target. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: If it’s less than 25 I’d be shocked.
Explosions: Several, big and small. Nothing as spectacular as the first two movies, but they look decent enough. Even the CGI ones.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: A weird opening. Attempted tie tying. A truck convoy. Truck convoy attack. Exploding truck. Grenade attack. A CGI fire. Machine gun attack. A wicked gun battle. Sniper hooey. Multiple bullets to the head. Running into the woods and killing people. Gun stealing. A safe house. A closet armory. Face washing. More bullets to the head. Cereal bowl to the head. A flying Rock Bottom. Lamp throwing. Knife attack. Fireplace poker attack. Boat escape. Rock to the back of the head. Hitchhiking. Muscle car stealing. Serious mass cop killing. A shootout. A nasty leg wound. Multiple bloody bullet hits. More serious cop killing. Serious exploding doorway. Truck stealing. An arm wound. Even more bullets to the head. Simply running into the woods. Flak jacket hooey. Cell phone signal search. More sniper hooey. Neck breaking. Killing by knife. Hanging booby-trap. Multiple spiky booby-traps to the head. Automatic handgun hooey. A knife fight. A human shield. A quick hand-to-hand brawl. Bullet to the back of the head. A machine gun beating. Dirt to the eyes. Double arm breaking. Front face lock neck break. A brutal hand-to-hand brawl. A montage of people being arrested. A windsock. A clean suit.
Kim Richards?: None.
Gratuitous: The Miz. The Miz taking a shower. The Miz attempting to shave. The Miz attempting to tie a tie. Summer Rae. Mercenaries making sure dead people are really dead. Surveillance cameras. Canned food gathering. The Miz taking out a guy with a Flying Rock Bottom. Cop killing. Trail tracking. A knife fight between The Miz and Summer Rae.
Best lines: “I never thought I’d see you in a monkey suit, Jake, but I gotta tell ya, you look ridiculous. Thank you, sir.” “That’s enough, Carter.” “They’re flanking! Watch your 3 and 9!” “This is my first day.” “What are you doing? Planning for the worst.” “Have you ever heard the term Semper Fi?” “I won’t let them get to you.” “I’m not eating that. Is there anything organic?” “Go on, call my bluff, bitch!” “Why’s Carter still alive?” “Jesus! How many times do I have to save your life before you trust me?” “Whoever you talked to is lying!” “What are you doing? My job.” “It’s Carter!” “I just murdered a whole police station. What’s a few more?” “So, what, we’re supposed to die out here in the woods?” “I don’t want to argue with you. Good, then don’t.” “Ready? Of course not.” “Are you kidding me? They slipped past all of you?” “Amateurs.” “I don’t usually like to shoot people in the back of the head when they’re not looking. Sometimes I want them to see it coming.” “Wow, Carter, you look like hell.” “See you later, Marine.”
Rating: 6.9/10.0
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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Issue #425: The Marine 5: Battleground
The Marine Marathon: Week 5
Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that wonders if anything good has ever happened in a movie (or in real life) inside of a parking garage, The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number four hundred and twenty-five, The Marine Marathon concludes with the final part of “The Miz Trilogy,” The Marine 5: Battleground, which hit home video in April 2017.
The Marine 5: Battleground
The Marine 5: Battleground, directed by James Nunn (he also directed the terrific Scott Adkins WWE movie Eliminators, which also starred Stu “Wade Barrett” Bennett. My review for that no longer exists on the internets but, again, the movie is awesome and you should definitely track it down and see it), is easily the best of the “Miz Trilogy” as it features the Miz’s best performance of the three The Marine movies he’s done so far. The Miz’s integrity problem doesn’t rear its ugly head until the end of the movie, but by that time you’re willing to give his natural douchiness a pass considering what his character has just gone through. The other pro wrestlers in the cast, with the exception of the Miz’s wife Maryse, kick ass and are the real highlight of the movie.
The Miz once again plays ex-Marine Special Forces Operator Jake Carter, and in this flick he’s a paramedic in some unnamed city. He still has those heroic Marine tendencies, like when he saves a seriously injured car wreck victim (that would be Maryse) despite his veteran paramedic partner Zoe (Anna Van Hooft) telling him to back off and stop being such a hero. If he doesn’t slow down, Carter will burn out and get himself or his partner or his patient killed. Carter doesn’t agree with that assessment, as being a hero is just a part of who he is. Carter and Zoe get a heart attack call from a parking garage next to a closed down amusement park and quickly make their way to the scene. As soon as they get there, both Carter and Zoe suspect something is off about the call. How the hell did the patient get inside the parking garage, and why would someone experiencing a heart attack drive into the garage and park inside of the inner levels? They can’t drive their ambulance into the garage due to a height restriction at the entrance, so they go inside on foot. The garage is creepy as hell, as there’s only a smattering of lights on and no one answers their calls of “Where are you?” When they do find their patient, a man named Cole (Nathan Mitchell), they find out that the heart attack call was a ruse and that there’s more than one patient inside the garage. That guy is dead, while Cole has a nasty bullet wound that he’s bleeding badly from. What the hell happened? Why did Cole drive into the garage?
Well, as we see at the beginning of the movie, Cole and his friend drive up to a biker bar in town, wait for the leader of the Lost Legion motorcycle gang to show up (some guy, I believe, named Rodrigo who doesn’t appear in the cast list on imdb) and then blow him away. This drive-by shooting enrages Lost Legion psycho member Alonzo (Bo Dallas) who opens fire on Cole’s truck. As the wounded Cole drives away, Alonzo alerts his fellow Lost Legion members Deacon (Curtis Axel), Murphy (Naomi), Cash (Heath Slater), and Vincent (Sandy Robson). Alonzo, Deacon, and Murphy immediately go after Cole, with Vincent and Cash staying behind to gather up more members in the event that they’re needed. As Carter and Zoe work on Cole and work on getting him to their ambulance, the Lost Legion figures out that Cole likely went to the parking garage and they arrive to kill him.
Now, when Carter and Zoe find out that the Lost Legion gang is in the garage, heavily armed and pissed off and ready to kill, they momentarily freak out. They don’t know what Cole actually did to get a bullet wound. Why the hell would a biker gang want to kill him? Carter asks Cole what’s really going on. Cole explains his situation and what he did. Zoe wants to leave Cole behind and get the hell out of the garage. Carter, though, has no intention of leaving Cole to die. Cole is his patient, and since Carter is still a goddamn Marine, he isn’t going to leave a man behind. Zoe comes to her senses, agrees that it’s not a good idea for a paramedic to leave a wounded patient behind to die, and she tries to formulate a plan with Carter to get out of the garage without dying herself. They don’t have any weapons, there’s no cell phone signal inside of the garage, and the elevators don’t work. How the hell are they going to get out of the parking garage alive?
The parking garage set in this movie is creepy as hell. As soon as Carter and Zoe arrive you have no idea what the heck is in there. Battleground is an action movie, yes, but if director Nunn had wanted to do some kind of horror movie where Carter and Zoe had to team up with the Lost Legion bikers to fight a demonic force that was let loose inside of the garage it probably would have worked. It’s also cool how you, just like the characters, never really know where you are inside of the garage. What floor are you on? Where are the bikers? How the hell do you get out? You’re never quite sure. You just have to run and hope that the direction you’ve chosen is the right one.
As a result of how cool and moody the garage is, the action of Battleground is at its best when the story is inside of the garage. The level of action picks up once the story moves out of the garage for the last quarter of its runtime, but it’s never quite as good as it is when it’s inside the garage. Now, don’t get me wrong. The action outside of the garage is pretty good. There’s plenty of machine gun hooey going on, there’s some good fighting stuff, and there’s a very cool moment where a bad guy is hanged inside of an ambulance (you have to see the scene to completely understand it). But the stuff in the garage? All of it is excellent.
One thing that will likely surprise The Marine fans is the lack of explosions in Battleground. The other four The Marine movies were chock full of them. Small and massive explosions were a running motif of sorts. There’s only one in Battleground, and it’s kind of on the wimpy side. I’m going to assume that director Nunn just wasn’t keen on having them in his movie, or it could have been a budget thing. “Real” explosions are expensive, and CGI explosions, even on big, mega budget extravaganzas are never as cool as a real one. The lack of explosions doesn’t kill Battleground, but it is something you will no doubt notice, especially if you’ve seen the other movies in the series.
I do want to make mention of the way the movie ends. The garage is next to an amusement park that has a gigantic Ferris wheel, a Ferris wheel that someone looks at and the camera lingers on for a moment. You’d think that the climax of the movie would take place at that Ferris wheel, with Carter battling bad guys on the Ferris wheel with Carter launching the last bad guy off of it. I mean, why feature the Ferris wheel if no one is getting thrown off it? Sort of like the lack of explosions, perhaps the production couldn’t afford to stage a complicated fight scene on a Ferris wheel. It is something you will notice.
Battleground probably has the best overall cast of any of The Marine movies. The Miz does his best work yet here as Jake Carter, paramedic. He, and director Nunn, have almost figured out his integrity problem and, as a result, Carter is actually likeable in this movie. The Miz once again does a decent job in the movie’s many fight and action scenes, although he only uses one pro wrestling move. Why is that? Why have a pro wrestler in your movie and not have him use multiple moves against the bad guys? A suplex, a dropkick, maybe a flying elbow of some kind? As for the whole “integrity” thing, it starts to go away at the end when The Miz starts to smile. I think it’s best for everyone if The Miz doesn’t do that when he’s supposed to be the hero. If he ever gets to play a bad guy in a movie, let him smile all he wants. But if he’s the hero, tell him to never do that. It just looks and plays wrong. If The Miz stars in another The Marine movie, it will be interesting to see what sort of job he has in that one. A cook in a restaurant? A school teacher? Mall security? Since trouble seems to find Carter no matter where he goes, is he insurable? Would any company or city be willing to hire him for something?
Anna Van Hooft does a good job as Zoe, Carter’s fellow paramedic. She has decent friend chemistry with The Miz, and she comes off as resourceful in a crisis, which is what you want in a paramedic. Yes, she does engage in some questionable judgement at one point when the Lost Legion shows up, but, really, if a psycho biker gang was coming after you I think you’d freak out, too. It’s pretty messed up what happens to her. As for Nathan Mitchell, who plays Cole, the guy Carter and Zoe protect, he does a good job laying on the ground and bleeding. That seems like a shot at Mitchell’s performance, but it isn’t. It’s hard to not do much on screen and still remain interesting. I’m still sort of surprised that he didn’t bleed out while stuck in the garage.
Bo Dallas is freaking amazing as Alonzo. He just seethes malevolence and is exactly the kind of bad guy you want to see a hero like Carter take out. If he decides to stop doing the whole “Miztourage” thing and the pro wrestling thing, Dallas could have a future as an actor. He could easily slip into another bad guy role, and, personally, I think he would kick ass as a Joker type psycho. Perhaps there’s a low-budget horror slasher villain in his future? If there isn’t, goddamit, there should be. Dallas really is that good. (And look at him now as Uncle Howdy!)
Curtis Axel is also amazing as Lost Legion member Deacon. He looks good on camera, knows how to wield a sawed off double barrel shotgun, and has a terrific screen presence. If Axel wants to be an action star, I think he would do quite well for himself. Unlike Dallas, I think Axel could do well either as a good guy or as a bad guy. I think he has that “it” factor.
Naomi also has that “it” factor going for her. As Murphy, she’s a badass female biker who will mess you up if you start giving her shit. At first, she doesn’t seem all that tough and badass, but once she takes out a knife and comes at you watch the hell out. At the moment Naomi is the Smackdown! Women’s Champion and is at the top of her game in the squared circle. Much like Dallas and Axel, if Naomi wants to be an actor, she could do it and kick ass at it. Just watch that knife fighting scene. Tremendous stuff.
Heath Slater doesn’t have much of a part as Lost Legion member Cash, but he does a good job with what he’s allowed to do. You may end up confusing him with Sandy Robson’s Vincent as they look very similar, but that similarity actually makes sense. And Robson is insane as Vincent. The man knows how to swear.
I have no idea why The Miz’s wife, Maryse, is in this movie. She’s in one scene, Carter rescues her, and then she dies from her injuries. Her part could have been played by anyone. She adds some name value to the cast, sure, but, again, why not have her play a cop or a biker or literally anyone else? Why have her play a car accident victim that dies almost immediately? Her leg wounds are exceptionally disgusting, so that’s cool.
The Marine 5: Battleground is the best of “The Miz Trilogy” and a great overall action movie to boot. A great cast, a great setting, and terrific action. You can’t ask for much more than that.
See The Marine 5: Battleground. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: Less than 20 but not much less than 20.
Explosions: One, which is the least of any in The Marine franchise to date.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: Motorcycle riding. Biker bar hooey. Some very gross kissing. Beer drinking. A drive-by shooting. Automatic handgun hooey. A bad car accident. A heroic rescue. Graphic leg wounds. Defibrillator hooey. An argument. A scary as hell parking garage. Wound fixing. A broken rear-view mirror. Dead body leaving. Sawed off double barrel shotgun hooey. More automatic handgun hooey. Running. Cell phone tower destruction. A knife attack. Knife to the gut. Window breaking. Radio shooting. A still very bloody wound. Light breaking. Picture taking. A wicked bullet to the head. An attitude adjustment. Testicle punching. A head-butt. Attempted axe attack. Needle to the back of the neck. Axe to the side. A bevy of guns. An impromptu blood donation. Hot wiring an elevator. Knife breaking. A wicked fight on the top of an elevator. Foot shooting. A major head shot (gun under the chin with an exploding top of the head). A haunted house ride. Neck breaking. A major machine gun attack. Menacing. A major stabbing. Exploding gas barrel. An ambulance chase. A hanging. A building under construction. A knife vs crowbar fight. Major wall destruction. Face punching. A wicked kick to the side of the face. Crowbar to the leg. Throwing a guy off a roof. An old picture.
Kim Richards?: None.
Gratuitous: Bo Dallas playing a psycho biker asshole. Naomi. Heath Slater. Curtis Axel. A guy that looks like Heath Slater but isn’t Heath Slater. The Miz playing a paramedic. Maryse for some reason. An amusement park. A too tall garage entrance. People walking with small flashlights. A moody parking garage. A universal tool. A haunted house ride. An ambulance chase. A building under construction.
Best lines: “Hey, prospect, what’s up, boo?” “Can you tell me what was going through your head back there?” “The place is like a ghost town.” “Why did someone drive down here with a heart attack?” “No cops. Please.” “Let’s check the theme park!” “What the hell is an ambulance doing here?” “You okay? Okay? Just get us the hell out of here!” “What the hell you doing?” “Why are these guys after you?” “They’re not going anywhere, are they?” “And the good Lord said let there be light!” “Hey! I’ll work this out!” “You know I can hear you.” “Don’t do it! Don’t!” “Is it worth dying for?” “No one’s coming to save your ass now. You sure about that?” “How about I blast your bitch partner and then cut you up for my dog?” “There ain’t no ink on that body.” “Where the fuck is he?” “All right, jarhead. Your round.” “Did you really think we’d just walk away, jarhead?” “You don’t know what you just started!” “Outta bullets, huh? I’ve got lots of bullets.” “The axe man cometh!” “Thanks for the help. Thanks for the morphine.” “Someone was lying about having lots of ammo, weren’t they?” “One floor. Figures.” “You’re a Marine? Yes, sir. No wonder you’re such a badass.” “For the Legion!” “Come on, boys, time to earn those patches!” “He dies tonight!” “Fucking haunted houses!” “Gunner? Yeah, this is Gunner. I’m dead. Jarhead has killed me and he’s taken all of my guns.” “He’s here somewhere.” “You’re finished, asshole!” “Put that dog down!” “Tonight, we’re going to have ourselves a little barbecue!” “Move!” “Use the strap! Choke him out!” “You want him? You’ll have to go through me.” “You’re a paramedic! It’s your job to do what’s right!” “I’m gonna kill you like I killed your bitch partner!” “Hey, Carter, thanks for keeping me alive. Just doing my job.”
Rating: 7.5/10.0
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Check out previous issues of From the B-Movie Vault!
From the B-Movie Vault: Phantasm and Phantasm II
From the B-Movie Vault: Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead and Phantasm IV: Oblivion
From the B-Movie Vault: Phantasm: Ravager and John Dies at the End
From the B-Movie Vault: Scanners
From the B-Movie Vault: Scanners II: The New Order and Scanners III: The Takeover
From the B-Movie Vault: Scanner Cop and Scanner Cop 2
From the B-Movie Vault: John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 2
From the B-Movie Vault: Silent Night, Deadly Night and Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2
From the B-Movie Vault: American Ninja and American Ninja 2: The Confrontation
From the B-Movie Vault: The Marine and 12 Rounds
From the B-Movie Vault: The Marine 2 and The Marine 3L Homefront
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Check out my review of The Marine 6: Close Quarters here!
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Well, I think that’ll be about it for now. Don’t forget to sign up with disqus if you want to comment on this article and any other 411 article. You know you want to, so just go do it.
B-movies rule. Always remember that.
The Marine 4: Moving Target
Mike “The Miz” Mizanin– Sgt. Jake Carter
Melissa Roxburgh– Olivia Tanis
Josh Blacker– Andrew Vogel
Mathew MacCaull– Ethan Smith
Summer Rae– Rachel Dawes
Paul McGillion– Detective Paul Redman
Craig Veroni– Daniels
Roark Critchlow– Nate Miller
Directed by William Kaufman
Screenplay by Alan B. McElroy, based on characters created by Scott Wiper and Declan O’Brien
Distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Rated R for violence and language
Runtime– 90 minutes
Buy it here
**
The Marine 5: Battleground
Mike “The Miz” Mizanin– Jake Carter
Anna Van Hooft– Zoe Williams
Bo Dallas– Alonzo
Curtis Axel– Deacon
Naomi– Murphy
Heath Slater– Cash
Sandy Robson– Vincent
Nathan Mitchell– Cole
Maryse Mizanin– Ana
Directed by James Nunn
Screenplay Edward McHenry and Rory McHenry, based on characters created by Scott Wiper and Declan O’Brien
Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated R for violence and language
Runtime- 91 minutes
Buy it here
