Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Whatever He Hits, He Destroys!", June 25, 2009
I caught this on TV and had nothing better to do. I've seen some of Dolph's movies, and had always liked him since Rocky IV. I was even excited to see him in Masters of the Universe, and had entered a contest to be in the movie. I didn't win (and it would have been just a walk-on, non-speaking part anyway), but was pretty disappointed with the movie. Maybe I'll give it another shot. Dolph was great in Universal Soldier, but has made many flops since.
This movie, though nothing spectacular about the plot, has just the basic action theme that is all too familiar: mysterious man comes into town for a funeral, hangs around for a while and gets into trouble with the local mob who control the town, mysterious man falls for a local (though it IS a family and not the town hussie), mob calls for back-up, mysterious man kills back-up and leaves town.
I think what made this stand out from so many other movies is the acting. With exception to the main boss character, everyone in the film is so believable in their role that I almost cried when people started dying. That or I've just got an attachment to Dolph and he reminded me of the unstoppable Russian Ivan Drago he played 25 years ago. Dolph is as bad as they come in this movie. A real savage with heart! It was like how we felt with Steven Segal movies when they first came out, or Charles Bronson in Death Wish, craving for more brutal violence.
This movie is NOT over-the-top by any means (and I don't mean that arm-wrestling movie with Sylvester Stallone), but it gives viewers just the right formula to keep us wanting more. I might check out some of Dolph's other movies after seeing this. I left the room feeling tough, brave, like I could stomp on some bullies and not worry about them suing me afterward.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mission Accomplished?, June 2, 2008
It's finally fun to be a Dolph Lundgren fan again: after a time of proverbial stinkers like Storm Catcher and Agent Red, "Missionary Man" comes off the heels of the better-than-average The Defender and The Russian Specialist to continue the trend of upward mobility for the towering Swedish black belt...but, like any film that our hero has done, it's not perfect.
The plot revolves around an Indian reservation under the oppressive control of a powerful businessman (Matthew Tompkins, Killing Down). Upon the suspicious death of a young activist, a soft-spoken biker with an affinity for the Bible (Lundgren) rides into town to investigate his friend's demise, and ends up going head-to-head with the tyrannical forces that have enslaved the reservation.
Immediately, I am reminded of Steven Seagal's On Deadly Ground - another action movie that dealt with Native American plight. In comparison, Lundgren's film is superior and more realistic in expressing problems facing Indian communities in the modern world: though dramatized, the oppression of the reservation isn't sensationalized or melodramatic, and the Indians are portrayed as intrinsically modern and aware of the politics surrounding their situations.
Lundgren, however, is less notable: though his character is cloistered and soft-spoken to begin with, this plays down Dolph's acting ability and makes him appear less likeable as a hero of the downtrodden. Also, the premise of him being a man of God is moot: he reads passages from the Bible a couple of times, but in none of his actions does he mention a biblical influence or elaborate on his faith, which makes me wonder why the movie is called what it is.
"Missionary Man" is film driven by story rather than action, so the latter is presented in spare amounts: the final 12-againt-1 stalk is the best scene when it comes to shooting and kicking butt, but generally all of the encounters are quick and one-sided. The fact that the acting is of decent quality helps shoulder this lack of explosions, but it's still disappointing.
In the end, you can chalk up one for Lundgren: though not typical action fare, "Missionary Man" is distinguishable from other DTV releases, and gives hope to the thought that Dolph will be ready if a big-budget offer comes calling.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dolph Directs!, March 9, 2008
Dolph's on both sides of the camera this time(not to mention he cowrote the script too) in this nifty little revenge flick. Dolph's a bible reading biker who comes rolling into town one day and immediately starts trouble with the redneck drug dealer who runs the town. He has numerous run ins with the same band of goons and slaps them silly each and every time. In fact it becomes unintentionally comical how often this happens, and the fact that they still try to start up fights with him. It makes the villains look pretty silly. Dolph teams up with the Native American population of the town, who the drug dealer(named Reno) is trying to force into building a casino that he can take advantage of. After one too many knuckel sandwiches from Dolph, Reno sends for help in the form of a badazz biker gang who Dolph also makes look like putzes. Naturally it all leads to an explosive showdown. The film seemed like a modernized western, and I believe that was the intention. Maybe it tried too hard to be like a western. The reason I say that is coz most westerns leave a bit of mystery to their gunslinging hero, and this film leaves ALOT of mystery to just about everything. Practically nothing is explained in this movie. We can assume Dolph is really after the leader of the evil biker gang, not Reno. It's mentioned that he was once shot and left for dead by this man. The reasons why are never explained, his association with the gang is never explained. In one scene Dolph retrives a shotgun from a man who says, "this is the gun they shot you with", and when Dolph leaves, the man starts crying. We never see him again. Dolph sleeps with a woman who tells him that he reminds her of her husband who was killed by a biker gang. The woman's daughter looks to Dolph as a father figure. None of that is explained any further than what I mentioned. Why does Dolph constantly read a bible and start reading aloud at a funeral? Is he a minister? The bible thing just seems like a gimmick more than anything, it really adds nothing to the story. Dolph claims to have known the man who's funeral is at the start of the film, but never says where from. A character mentions that Dolph fights like he's had military training, but hell, we never find out. There are more such unexplained things, but that's all I can think of at the moment. I guess you can add all that together and see what you can come up with. I love movies where every plot point isn't spoonfed to you, and where some things remain hidden in mystery. That's one of the reasons I love westerns so much. I must say that I have never seen so many open ended plot points in a typical action film before, especially a Dolph Lundgren one. It doesn't help that he barely speaks, so we don't get much of a clue as to what's going on in his head. He pretty much just shows up, slaps some guys around, befriends a family, gets a room at a hotel, reads a bible, slaps some guys around again, drinks tequila(no lime, no salt), jumps in the sack with a chick, attempts a bible talk with some kids, slaps the snot out of some guys, retrieves his old shotgun, sends family away for their safety, gets invited to Reno's bar and shoots it to pieces after drinking tequila(no lime, no salt), gets into big shootout with evil bikers, rides away on motorcycle leaving crying kid(daughter??)running down the street after him. That's Missionary Man. Regardless of how head scratching it can be, it is enjoyable. I suppose the confusion makes a run of the mill action movie a tad less run of the mill. We do know that he's there to kick someone's butt and apparently it's all we need to know. It is fun watching him do it. I didn't exactly want to give it 4 stars, but I do think it's a bit above the three I gave it. Dolph!
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