Supelice Dreadfully Boring

TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Comeuppance Reviews Sgt. John North (The Boz) is an Army drill instructor and close-combat specialist. But he also has a sensitive side. He loves his young daughter and wife and would do anything for them. When his loved ones are tragically murdered by professional scumbag Marcus (Kober) and North is put into a coma by sustaining multiple bullet wounds, his life spirals out of control. Upon regaining his consciousness, he devotes his life to revenge. As he climbs up the baddie food chain, he finds Karl Savak (Payne), a long-haired, nose-ringed corrupt Federal Agent, and the villain of all villains this century, M.C. Hammer. Actually he has the classic bad-guy name of Dexter Kane, but it's still, of course, the Hammer we all know and love. Gumming up the works of North's revenge mission is 12-year old tot Mikey (Guy) who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite the presence of Mikey, will North achieve his mission, especially with the odds stacked against him? Here's some imagery for you: a bowl of hearty soup with a fly in it. A rich, creamy cheesecake with a cockroach on it. A succulent deluxe lobster with a rat on it. All potentially lovely food items, but you cannot eat around the fly, cockroach or rat. One Man's Justice (or totally badass alternate title One Tough Bastard) is like that. All the scenes with The Boz are gold. The fight scenes are fun, the baddies are nice and bad, and The Boz is on a revenge mission in L.A. All seems right with the world. But when are filmmakers going to learn that red-blooded males who watch action movies don't want to see precocious brats preventing roided-up meatheads from exacting brutal, violent revenge? To put it another way: we hate when kids play too prominent a role in action movies. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, as Sarah Dampf, Smith, Lisa Boynton, and the cast of Double Blast (1994) prove, kids aren't ALWAYS bad. But the presence of the Mikey character here prevents One Man's Justice from being all it can be, much like Sgt. John North would want you to be in the Army.So, while they should have edited out Mikey and added some more fights, car chases or even a test pattern, let's leave that aside for a moment. One Man's Justice is classic 90's. That's a good thing, by the way. The cast is excellent, with Boz doing a stellar job, plus favorites Kober, playing a bad guy as always (you know he's evil because he wears a leather vest), Bruce Payne hairing it up, and a rare dark-haired Neal McDonough making a brief appearance. We've also got Robert LaSardo in the tattoo parlor fight sequence, and, in what has to be a cinematic first, both M.C. Gainey and M.C. Hammer together in the same movie. M.C. Hammer is even billed as "Hammer", perhaps so he wouldn't be confused with the rap career of Gainey. While in The Peacekeeper (1997), Montel Williams teamed up with Dolph, here, The Boz and Hammer are at odds. We'll give you a moment to unravel that last sentence. Mr. Hammer gives us his full acting range, even showing us sad Hammer, or, as it's known, Sammer.The 90's-ness of it all comes through insofar as all the time Mikey is involved, the movie devolves into a cross between Cop and a Half (1993) and one of those classic anti-drug PSA's from back then. At any moment you think some drugged-up bugs are going to come out from behind a wall. Then it swerves into Homie Movie territory, but Jeff Kober is the lead homie. It's all very confusing. It tries to be relevant, commenting on the trend of mugging people for their sneakers. And the fact that Mikey looks like Mac Dad from Kris Kross firmly places this movie in its 90's place and time. The soundtrack, in the relevant places, features rap from UGK and Kool Moe Dee.The original North (1994), John North is a man you can believe in. Fun fact about Brian Bosworth's career: much like how Tony Danza strictly only plays guys named Tony, Bosworth mainly plays guys named John. In Stone Cold (1991), he was John Stone, in Blackout (1996), he was John Gray, in the TV series Lawless, he was, awesomely enough, John Lawless, and of course today we have John North. One Man's Justice is perhaps the second-ultimate Boz movie, after Stone Cold of course. He was born to be in B-grade action product, and you can tell from the many training sequences that this is truly in his wheelhouse. The movie has some of our favorite clichés, such as when, during the climax, the baddie says the hero's name many times, and the all-time classic "you just couldn't let it go, could you?" speech.We loved all the non-Mikey scenes in this movie. His presence is just too prevalent and inappropriate here. I mean honestly, what is this, One Tot's Justice? But just as you cannot eat around the offending vermin in your food, we can't just watch around Mikey. Your enjoyment level of this movie will depend on your tolerance for children in your action movies.

PeterMitchell-506-564364 Bosworth shows us now, that he can act. He's very good here, putting a lot of heart into his performance. He plays Seargeant North who runs an army corp. Unfortunately for his little daughter and ex wife, they were in the wrong place in the wrong when they're witnesses to a shootout involving some bad guys, one being the ever villainous Kober of course. Bosworth comes a little too late, him taking a bullet too, but surviving. Only there's more dangerous people higher, corrupt DEA agents, led by the versatile Payne as Drew Savaak. Payne creates a real piece of work here, where killer Kober, a real piece of s..t here, is kept under his protection. Bosworth who finally has to pull the plug on his daughter's life support, where the wife'e was executed, starts asking questions and getting involved, as smelling the rats, where he exacts his own investigation and revenge. He forms a friendship with a black kid, Mikey, who helps him, while Bosworth may of found a new love, as he develops a soft spot for Mikey's mother, a social worker if memory serves me correct. Mikey has his own vendetta too, wanting to go after the guys who shot his friend. I loved the scene in the restaurant between the two, exchanging their resolutions on the killers, when they find 'em. Bosworth, a great role figure here, telling Mikey it's wrong to kill, warning him on the consequences. Mikey then asks Bosworth, "What are you gonna do, when you find em". Bosworth of course not stating the obvious, comes out with a safer answer "This is different". OTB is a solid actioner with heart too, you wouldn't expect the movie to be this good. Bosworth is a force to be reckoned with. I loved it when he was kicking a..e as you so much wanted him too. His acting, particularly at the start, really impressed. There's no denying, Payne's evil presence here is fantastic. He even brought some of his mob from Passenger 57 on board, a film I loved him in.

ragreen259 And would've been shot along with everybody else, so I didn't have to watch this piece of crap. Two words--Brian Bosworth. Mother of God. Plodding, disjointed story (although it was amusing when one batch of guys shows up to steal guns and another group shows up to steal drugs... talk about a tense social situation...), the entire premise of the story seems pretty stupid... why wouldn't the cops level the place and kill the bad guy--I mean, other than the fact that they aren't the LAPD? They arrest him after he is responsible for the death of a dozen people, then he gets released to a guy that simply flashes a badge at the police department with no explanation, no paperwork, no escort... yeah, that happens every day, suspected mass murderers are released and no one even looks askance... and they walk out, side by side, the guy's not even in cuffs, and no one bats an eye...? Don't the newspapers notice that the guy that just murdered a bunch of people suddenly disappeared? Then he's turned loose by the guy to go back to his drug dealing, and all his buddies gather 'round... no one seems to think it's a little odd that he just killed a half dozen people and is back on the street a couple days later--apparently they're all too stupid to have it dawn on them that the guy is a snitch, or rolled over on someone. And how likely is an FBI agent walking around in a suit with hair to his shoulders and two rings in his nose--at headquarters? He looked like he was doing an emaciated Fabio impersonation. The guy looks ridiculous, and his cronies at the FBI are just as absurd. A little credibility could've been lent to them if they didn't look like some kind of lame-ass caricatures of exiles from Miami Vice, but apparently the director didn't think so. What cop would look at this guy and think he wasn't crooked? Nice low profile, dude. Then there's the scene where, in broad daylight, a white kid shoots a ten year old black kid on the streets of Los Angeles for his shoes. We all know how many surfer wannabe gangsters there are in L.A. carrying guns, shooting other kids for their shoes. The shooter looks about twelve. Puh-leez. No one bats an eye. Cars drive by, it's just business as usual in L.A. I guess, no one even looks when a dead kid is laying on a busy street next to a four lane downtown street at noon. And why does a tattoo artist (in a very upscale tat parlor that looks like it should be in Malibu at a fashion mall) have a baseball bat to pull out of nowhere and start swinging at the hero? Then there's writing, in huge red felt pen letters on your desk calendar at the FBI office "KILL MARCUS." I guess that's just in case he forgets to kill Marcus. "I knew there was something I was supposed to do today..." **glances down** "OH YEAH!! I need to KILL MARCUS! I almost forgot!" Don't waste your time on this piece of crap, it'd be better spent doing something more enjoyable, like repeatedly burning yourself on the ass with a lit cigar.

ya_rubes21 John North is a military instructor with a child he adores. When his wife and child accidentally become witnesses to a crime, they are murdered in cold blood. John North has one wish...revenge! OK, there is a bit more to it than that, but I won't give it away. "One Man's Justice" (or "One Tough Bastard" as its known as in the UK) is a well paced action movie with enough twists and creativity to hold your interest until the end. Visually speaking, director Kurt Wimmer doesn't have a particularly interesting eye, but he is talented enough to provide us with well choreographed fight scenes and effective, if slightly overdone performances. Bruce Payne reprises his role from "Passenger 57" here, albeit with an American accent. His performance borders on the camp, but it works. He IS A BAD GUY! At least, he wholly convinced me. Brian Bosworth is great too as the all American family man, who'll kick your ass to high hell if you ever cross him. The casting is perfect.Keep in mind, it's a B Movie, but it's thoroughly enjoyable. It reminds me of 80's bliss such as "Commando". Fans of action movies should add this to their collection.