7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Chuck Norris Movies ever, August 27, 2005
This is one of the best Chuck Norris movies I have ever seen. The martial arts in this film was very thrilling. Chuck Norris
works directly for the President. He does a great job on keeping matters confidential, and when it comes to impossible jobs to be done, the President goes directly to Chuck Norris. He also has the task of rescuing the First Lady from terrorists, and then once again, he must face new missions. This is a movie not to be missed. If you like Chuck Norris, you will love this action packed movie. I will definitely buy any Chuck Norris movie I can find.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
"You're no George Bush", March 21, 2011
The story: when Joshua McCord (Chuck Norris,
Walker, Texas Ranger), the "president's man" - a solitary machine who undertakes terrorist assignments too sensitive for the nation to handle publicly - seeks a replacement to take up his dangerous mantel, he finds one in Deke Slater (Dylan Neal,
Blood Ties), a military hero unjustly sent to prison. In learning from the master, Deke will need to prove himself through a series of missions culminating with the rescue of a top governmental engineer from the clutches of a sadistic chemical runner (Soon-Tek Oh,
Beverly Hills Ninja).
During the last few years of his cinematic career, Chuck Norris was big on presenting himself as a guide or teacher to others, and this is one of the movies where it actually works well enough. Chuck Norris is still obviously *Chuck Norris* but he's got enough of a wizened air about him to pull off the part; someone else could have played the role better, but Chuck does alright. Dylan Neal as his protégé has some good physical moves but will take a while to grow on you, if at all, seeing as he begins the movie as a sour-faced jerk. He and Norris make an okay team, but their chemistry is unexceptional and, seeing as Norris is a martial arts instructor in real life and used to teaching, their mentor/pupil relationship could have been explored a lot more. The perpetually under-appreciated Soon-Tek Oh has only a handful of scenes and doesn't speak for half of them.
There's a decent amount of action in the film, but it's not great. Dylan Neal's training scenes (wherein he throws knives at a revolving poster, runs an aerobics course, and spars with Jennifer Tung of "Masked Rider" fame) are decent, but if you have your heart set on real hand-to-hand stuff, you're going to be disappointed. There are enough flashes of physical competence from both of the main stars to keep you watching, but - with the exception of the pretty good showdown between Norris and Soon-Tek's stunt double - most of the fights are choreographed and shot in boring made-for-TV fashion with way too many close-ups and shots from the back.
It bothers me a bit that the movie goes back in time ten years from when it was made in being a pro-America advertisement at the expense of non-Americans: most of the missions in the film are simply Chuck Norris saving rich white Americans from evil brown-skinned people. However, it's difficult to be upset by the movie because everything it presents is so very dull and run-of-the-mill. This is television B-movery at its most formulaic, from the get-it-done filming of its action scenes to the script's by-the-numbers clichés. It's odd that a film as bland as this would be one of the few that Chuck followed up with
a sequel, but then again, it was probably done as a favor to his son/director Eric. In a good mood, I'd give this movie three stars for its overall competence, but since I'm not feeling generous, it'll have to endure two for its insipidness. Chuck Norris fans might as well check it out, but that's about it.
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