Puncture Wounds

Released: July 2014

Director: James Coyne

Rated R

Run Time: 96 Minutes

Distributor: Lionsgate Studios

Cast:
Cung Le: John Nguyen
Dolph Lundgren: Hollis
Vinnie Jones: Bennett
Gianni Capaldi: Vin
Briana Evigan: Tanya
James C. Burns: Sgt. Terry Mitchell

In the world of mixed martial arts, there are few people that are as accomplished in the ring as Cung Le, a Vietnamese-American that is an expert in various styles of martial arts including Sanshou kickboxing(a form of Chinese boxing), Tae Kwon Do and Judo.  He’s one of the flashiest fighters I’ve seen in MMA.  You don’t see a lot of fighters throwing spinning hook kicks or dropping axe kicks on their opponents, because those are very high-risk moves that usually aren’t successful and leave people open for a pounding.  Cung Le is undefeated in his Sanshou career with 17 wins and 0 losses.  He’s also a three-time world champion in kickboxing.  The man is an accomplished fighter, there is absolutely no doubt it.  The first movie that I saw him in was Tekken where he played Marshall Law, one of the characters from the video game.  He’s done a couple of movies where he was allowed to show off his skills as a martial artist, but as an actor, I’m not entirely convinced that he’s capable of headlining a movie.  His latest film is a collaboration with Dolph Lundgren called Puncture Wounds.

Opening somewhere in California at a hotel, we see John Nguyen, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, struggling to get back into civilian life.  Staying at a seedy hotel, he overhears a call girl getting roughed up by a couple of Aryan Nation wannabes, I guess, so John steps in decimating the group.  What he doesn’t realize is that these folks work for a ruthless drug and human trafficker by the name of Hollis.  After getting word about this incident, Hollis orders a hit on John and his family.  Story-wise, this is about as generic as it gets, and I’m being generous.  This movie has been done a thousand times before and it has been done better.  That’s one of the MANY problems that this movie’s got.  The acting is…a mixed bag, mostly.  Dolph Lundgren is in fine form as a particularly nasty villain with a horrendously generic name.  Vinnie Jones doesn’t get much screen time, but when he’s on screen, he’s an absolute blast.  Vinnie Jones is not a particularly dynamic actor, but he’s very intense in almost everything that he does.  Dolph Lundgren is clearly having a blast playing a villain.  He’s good at playing bad guys, with Andrew Scott from Universal Soldier being one of his best performances…ever.  Everyone else is….meh.

Cung Le is probably the weakest link in the film.  I praise the man’s physicality and his talents as a martial artist, and he pulls his weight in that arena in Puncture Wounds.  But that’s all he’s got going for him.  His acting is atrocious.  He has no range whatsoever other than looking pissed off all the time, and he’s not even convincing with that.  He’s also narrating the movie, but his performance is flatter than an open can of soda.  He has no charisma to speak of, and absolutely no real presence, when he’s on screen.  I generally don’t like coming down so hard on somebody who’s clearly got physical talent, but I have to call it as I see it.  Cung Le also handled the fight choreography.  It’s not bad, but this opens up another problem with the film:  The excessive use of slow-motion.  When it comes to screen fighting, you want to keep the slow-mo at a minimum, highlighting particular moves or impacts.  You don’t want to draw it out, because it makes the film feel longer than it should.  I had to check my clock to see what time it is.  For a movie that’s an hour and half long, it feels a hell of a lot longer.

The writing in Puncture Wounds is abysmal.  If you’re going to make a movie about a guy taking revenge for the murder of his loved ones, you need to be able to connect with the character.  But to do that, you need to give some background on not just the main character, but his family as well.  Let us spend time with his folks before bumping them off, so we can feel his rage.  That way, it becomes more satisfying when he takes out the bad guys.  With the exception of Dolph Lundren, Vinnie Jones and some of the fights, and some gorgeous ladies, this movie isn’t worth your time.  Even as a rental, I find it really hard to recommend this one.  Lundgren’s done better movies, but Cung Le needs to step up his game in the acting department.  This is not a good movie.  Rental only.  5/10.  It just barely avoids getting a Dunce Cap.

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