Mercenaries Review

It would be disingenuous to suggest that I had anything other than fairly low expectations for my first screening of 2012. A low-budget, war film starring a bunch of unknown actors ‘and Billy Zane’ (a title card that actually caused titters of mirth among some of the more openly dismissive members of the audience)? How good could this possibly be?

If 462 users on the IMDB (at time of writing) are to be believed, not very good at all. It currently holds a rating of 4.4. Having seen Mercenaries, this seems a little unfair to me. Sure, it’s no classic, nor even a rough diamond, but it’s far from a stinker. The film begins with a military coup in Serbia. The low budget is evident from off, though the brutal execution of the president and his family is an arresting opening. Warlord Olodan Cracovic is behind the coup; he assumes command of the country and kidnaps the US ambassador and his aide. The US decides not to take direct action themselves for diplomatic reasons (how very like US foreign policy), but instead enlist the services of a team of mercenaries led by the resourceful Andy Marlow, a man haunted by his tragic past (of course). Can the team make it through enemy lines, capture the baddy and rescue the ambassador (and get off with his aide)?

Mercenaries is writer/director Paris Leonti’s second film. Previously he had production roles on a clutch of obscure flicks, but worked on Shakespeare in Love and Saving Private Ryan in the transportation departments (under the much less directorial moniker ‘Barry’ Leonti), so to be helming his own films is a considerable step up in anyone’s book. Mercenaries is solidly put together and even has moments of flair. It’s a shame the same cannot be said for Bazza’s writing. The no-frills setup should be fairly tricky to get wrong, but some bad dialogue and basic plotting glitches come dangerously close. For example, until I looked up Mercenaries on Wikipedia for the purposes of writing this review, I had assumed that Kirsty Mitchell’s ambassadorial aide was in fact his wife, which meant I was left rather confused as to why she was not so much flirting with as practically dry-humping Andy right under her supposed-husband’s nose throughout the film.

The performances are similarly uneven. More often than not, the actors give decent turns, but occasionally indulge in some distracting histrionics. And squad member Vas Blackwood wildly overplays his part throughout, making his character’s inevitable demise more of a relief than an emotional highpoint.

To focus so much on the film’s flaws seems unsporting though. Generally, it’s pretty solid, often gritty stuff. It’s generally rather believable and the final battle sequence is orchestrated very well indeed. You may not be getting slick, glossy, no holds barred shock and awe, but you do get an assured and distracting ninety minute adventure. And Billy Zane.