Deadly Impact

Introduction

It's Christmas Eve and hot shot Albuquerque cop Thomas Armstrong (Sean Patrick Flanery) is discussing the present he's bought for his wife with his partner Ryan (Greg Serano) and teen daughter when the call comes through to hit the streets. Armstrong has been on the trail of a professional assassin named The Lion (Joe Pantaliano) for a long time and has been getting closer, despite no one knowing who he is or what he looks like. A tip has come in on his current location so Armstrong and his team hit the building in question, only to discover a nasty surprise.

The Lion has kidnapped Armstrong's wife as the latter's pursuit of him has clearly hacked him off. But Armstrong's wife is not hidden away awaiting the delivery of a ransom. Oh no. She's tied to a pillar in the basement of the building and part of a bomb that will blow the building up and kill all of Armstrong's team. Talking to Armstrong remotely and watching his every move by camera, The Lion gives Armstrong a choice.

His wife or his team. One life or ten. The Lion has hidden a switch taped to the wife's chest, hidden by a small heart marked on her top and shooting this switch will disarm the bomb. Armstrong is caught between a rock and a hard place, knowing there is no escape as The Lion will just remotely detonate the bomb if he tries to rescue his wife.

A little while later, in Mexico drowning his sorrows in tequila, Armstrong is approached by FBI agent Isabel Ordonez. The FBI are also now closing in on The Lion but would like Armstrong's help as he is the only person to have gotten close to the assassin - if you call a short conversation on the phone and having to kill your wife getting close. Armstrong isn't initally interested but becomes involved after discovering his wife was pregnant when he shot her and feels its time for a bit of payback, also discovering that his ex-partner has now transferred to the FBI and on the same team.

The Lion always appears a step or two ahead of the hunters though and has also planted a number of bombs in Albuquerque. It's down to Armstrong to save the day, but The Lion has a few tricks up his sleeve....

Audio

Bizarrely only 5.1 Surround tracks in either English or Russian, but lots of nice subtitle options with six languages being up for grabs.

Picture

Nice detailed picture as you might expect, quite detailed in places, although some of the CGI explosions look a bit OTT.

Extras

Not a thing...

Overall

I think its time to acknowledge that there are certain plot holes within modern day thrillers that we now just accept and don't worry about. Things like our eponymous hero going on an unspecified length of leave of absence to drown his sorrows in a foreign country, then not only returning to duty straight away but managing to work with a completely different agency and be accepted with minimum fuss by everyone and even end up as lead investigator. Maybe it works slightly differently in the US, but here you'd have Human Resources issues regarding special leave for bereavement (including contact), not to mention the bureaucratic nightmare of transferring, even on detached duty, to another Government dept. Still, that's just being pedantic and getting in the way of the man who'll get the job done...

Huge plot holes asides, this is quite an entertaining little thriller with both Flanery and Pantoliano is good form. Flanery is a pretty decent actor, although I can only remember seeing him in the Young Indiana Jones TV series. Some of the mannerisms are a little over the top but I blame the script rather than the actor here. Pantoliano is clearly having a lot of fun with his part in the grand tradition of the big villain who isn't content just to get away with his scheme, but has to show off and taunt the police in every manner possible, including killing or kidnapping them or members of their family. These two are easily the best thing about this film.

The main drawback really is Serano, who is definitely the weakest link and completely unconvincing as an FBI agent. Still, she was presumably willing to go topless in the obligatory swift sex scene, so that's OK. And despite the fact that it's Joe Pantoliano they're looking for and that his disguises in this film generally just mean some glasses and dodgy teeth, Serano's character fails to recognise him not long after his photo is brandished in front of her face. I realise that's a script issue rather than her fault specifically but it was just poor plotting with some poor acting to got with it. Oh, the plot holes above aren't the only ones. Armstrong's ex-partner transferring onto exactly the right team is only there for a similar dilemma/payoff and the amount of effort that Pantoliano was supposed to have gone through to not only infiltrate but bug and plant bombs within the desks themselves within the Federal building is more than a little unrealistic - still, if he can get away with that then maybe the conspiracy theorists regarding explosives bringing down the twin towers have a point. No, not really...

As I say, quite enjoyable if you don't think about it too much, but a definite renter rather than purchase...