Much like its predecessor, The Marine 4 is a passable but ultimately forgettable action film. The bullets fly all over the place and are overused to the point of being annoying and downright repetitive and boring. For fans of this franchise, this will probably do just enough for you otherwise just outright skip this release.
The Marine 4: Moving Target
(2015)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Action
Fox | R – 90 min. – $29.99 | April 21, 2015
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: William Kaufman Writer(s): Scott Wiper & Declan O’Brien (characters), Alan McElroy (written by) Cast: Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, Melissa Roxburgh, Josh Blacker, Matthew MacCaull, Summer Rae, Paul McGillion DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (DTS 5.1) |
** Click Here to Purchase The Marine 4 on Blu-ray from Amazon.com **
THE MOVIE – 2.25/5
Well, The Marine 4: Moving Target marks the latest in a franchise so forgettable that despite reviewing the previous two DTV sequels, I could not for the life of me remember a single plot point or character. I do recall neither of the films were good and strangely, this addition isn’t terrible; of course, that’s not saying a whole lot.
The story this go around features the return of Jack Carter (MIKE “THE MIZ” MIZANIN) who is now working in the private sector for a security firm. His first day on the job has the team protecting a “high-value package” in the form of the cute Olivia Tannis (MELISSA ROXBURGH), a 20-something computer expert with damaging evidence of corruption against a defense contractor. She is set to give this evidence only to the Attorney General but this corporation, under the codename Genesis, will stop at nothing to kill her and anyone who gets in their way. Genesis enlists Andrew Vogel, a former black ops soldier who worked many covert operations for the U.S., to track her down along with his crew of assassins, including, and this is her credited name, Rachel Dawes (WWE Diva SUMMER RAE in her feature debut).
When the convoy is ambushed, and the majority of security detail killed, Carter and Tannis go on the run first to a safe house to gather supplies and reveal the traitor of our film with Vogel and company not far behind. Carter does manage to escape with his life but Tannis proves to be difficult to say the least. She doesn’t quite trust him and when he turns his back, she clonks him over the head with a friggin’ rock and manages to go to the local authorities with Carter, once he regained consciousness, not far behind. However, the police aren’t a big help especially once the traitor intercepts the call. Shoot out ensues, lots of cops are killed and Carter and Tannis escape in spite of a barrage of bullets and even an RPG.
That’s really the gist of The Marine 4: Its bullets, squibs, blood-packs and even some CGI blood thrown in for the headshots. Each of these action scenes, with frenetic editing, becomes incredibly repetitive to the point of being downright boring. Now, for his part, Mike “The Miz” Mizanin makes for a capable action star especially considering the limited amount of actual acting he has to do; Melissa Roxburgh is decent enough as the damsel; and Josh Blacker as the primary baddie is like Mizanin, the character is just a fill-in-the-blank villain with a basic back story and all around background in kicking ass. For those interested, Summer Rae, in spite of appearing on the front cover with “The Miz,” barely has any lines and is dispensed with rather quickly.
The Marine 4: Moving Target was helmed by William Kaufman, director of a few DTV flicks including The Hit List and also is filming Jarhead: The Siege, the third in that series. Alan McElroy handles writing duties which is I guess unique since he was the original writer of the first Marine and has had a hand in several… interesting projects most notably 2003’s Wrong Turn and is penning The Condemned 2: Desert Play.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5
The features are rather light. Along with the redemption code for the UltraViolet HD copy, we do get a few featurettes: Firepower (10:12; HD) covering the weapons and training; The Franchise (5:48; HD) on the fourth film in the series; and Beauty is Dangerous (4:14; HD) on the two females featured in the film.
VIDEO – 4.0/5
The Marine 4: Moving Target shoots it up onto Blu-ray presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer (AVC codec). The picture quality is OK though nothing phenomenal. Colors are generally well balanced and bright especially for the daylight scenes while the nighttime shots are alright though it’s apparent some were day-for-night. Detail levels look nice and sharp and I didn’t notice any obvious flaws such as artifacting or aliasing. Still, it does have a distinct DTV vibe so it’s not fantastic but more than satisfactory.
AUDIO – 4.25/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track certainly makes the most of the almost endless barrage of gunfire while dialogue levels sound crisp and clear throughout. It’s a more than agreeable lossless track that has good, albeit not great, depth. The LFE channel does kick in a few times to give it a more dynamic feel, however.
OVERALL – 2.5/5
Overall, much like its predecessor, The Marine 4 is a passable but ultimately forgettable action film. The bullets fly all over the place and are overused to the point of being annoying and downright repetitive and boring. For fans of this franchise, this will probably do just enough for you otherwise just outright skip this release. The Blu-ray offers throwaway features but the video and audio transfers are both well done.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 04/26/2015
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.