Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Fox – 95 min – 2013 – Rated R -1080p – 1.78:1 widescreen – DTS-HD 5.1 Audio

The first 12 Rounds movie starred WWE superstar John Cena who played a detective who has to save his kidnapped girlfriend from a madman by completing 12 dangerous challenges. The concept has been revamped for the film’s sequel, 12 Rounds 2: Reloaded, and this time stars another WWE badass, Randy Orton, who hopes to one-up Cena in his film debut for the crown of being the next big action star. 12 Rounds 2: Reloaded is a straight to video release from Fox that delivers a 95 minute thrill ride to keep your adrenaline pumping.

THE MOVIE

Randy Orton plays Nick Malloy, an EMT worker who while trying to have a pleasant date night with his wife, Sarah (Cindy Bubsy), witnesses a horrific car crash and uses his medical skills in attempt to save the lives of the two victims. He’s able to save the guy who caused the accident, but he can’t save the woman who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

One year later, Nick arrives on the scene of another accident, but the man who he attempts to save hands him a phone and the voice on the other end oddly knows everything about him. He is told that his wife, Sarah, will be killed instantly if he goes to the cops for help, and to show him he’s very serious, the man who he was supposed to save explodes due to the brick of explosives sewn into his gut, triggering the first of the 12 deadly round game that Nick must survive.

The vengeance-fueled madman named Heller (Brian Markinson) unleashes an insane series of scenarios, and Nick goes against all odds to figure out the mystery of who the hell he is, why he has been chosen to play this game, and the link to the car crash that happened a year earlier. Every round he survives gets him one step closer to saving his wife and stopping Heller before more people die.

12 Rounds 2 is not a better movie than the original, it’s just the same premise with a new driver behind the wheel. Randy Orton is not bad, but he needs to find out what type of movie hero he wants to be. Does he want to be the guy who speaks very few words but kicks major ass (like Stallone), or does he want to be the wise-cracking tough guy who makes it up as he goes along (like Bruce Willis)? It’s obvious Orton can beat the crap out of someone, but the audience needs to identify with the hero so they will feel like they’re alongside them for the adventure.

This movie knows it’s a straight-to-video event and can’t compete with an action film that cost four times more with bigger stars attached, but if you take it for what it is you can still have fun with it. The director, Roel Reine is familiar with the low budget action genre, helming a few other action titles such as The Scorpion King 3 and, The Marine 2, and Death Race 2, so he does give the film enough production value to satisfy those who enjoy the genre.

VIDEO

Presented in 1080p in a 1.78:1 ratio, 12 Rounds 2: Reloaded doesn’t look bad at all. It’s a small film with a limited budget, but the look of the film works. Colors are solid and skin tones are so clean that you can see all the tattoos on Randy Orton’s arms. There is grain, but being that the film is going for a dark look, it doesn’t affect the overall picture quality.

SOUND

Offering a DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix, the sound is decent allowing you to hear the dialogue clearly, and when the action starts, explosions, gunshots, and screeching cars sound as good as they would on any other action flick.

EXTRAS

Director Roel Reine and his editor Radu Ion actually give a pretty decent audio commentary track and discuss all the tricks they used to make the film look bigger despite the tiny budget.

The Action of 12 Rounds 2: Reloaded is just as it sounds, giving you a glimpse of how some of the key action scenes were done.

Randy Orton Reloaded is a quick overview of the cast and crew talking about working with this giant wrestler for his debut as a movie action hero.

Locations: From Heller’s Lair to the Sugar Factory shows a few of the locations used to make the film.

BOTTOM LINE

12 Rounds 2: Reloaded is for fans of Randy Orton who want to see the WWE star kicking ass outside of the ring. The film has some thrilling moments and plenty of things go boom, so if that’s what you want to see Orton do, you won’t be disappointed. The Blu-ray offers a pretty good image quality and decent sound, and though the extras are light, keep in mind this is a straight-to-video release. Will there be third 12 Rounds film with another WWE star attached? Most likely, yes. But this time I suggest they try a new twist to the formula and have a female wrestler in the lead.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 2.5

Video: 3.5

Sound: 3.0

Extras: 2.5

Bottom Line: 3.0