Armed Response BD + Screen Caps

THE MOVIE — 1.25/5

Note: This review contains SPOILERS, so readers beware.

Plot Synopsis: A team — which includes leader Isaac (WESLEY SNIPES), Riley (ANNE HECHE) and Gabriel (DAVE ANNABLE) — of trained operatives is trapped inside an isolated military compound after its artificial intelligence, which Gabriel created, is suddenly shut down. The crew begins to experience strange and horrific phenomena as it attempts to uncover what killed the previous team.

Review: Days later, I’m really not sure what the hell I watched in Armed Response. The movie is the first from the Erebus Pictures company, founded by KISS star Gene Simmons (who has a cameo), in conjunction with WWE Studios, and is from freshman script writer Matt Savelloni and under the direction by John Stockwell, generally a veteran director, albeit not a good one with the likes of Into the Blue, Blue Crush, Dark Tide on his resume. I might not have cared for those films but they looked competent by comparison to this lackluster, amateurish production.

It would seem there were two genres in conflict with each other: on the one hand, and this aspect worked pretty well, this is a tense horror film as the crew searches throughout the large facility, which looks like a closed down penitentiary in New Orleans, and there’s a potential scare around every corner (and some first-person footage is also utilized). But then there is the second genre, science fiction as an A.I. system goes rogue (a la HAL, which is referenced) which in itself would’ve been fine… until the system is not only able to show things impossible to see and, bizarrely, bend the laws of physics when a cinderblock wall comes to life, springs arms and hands and rips a bad guy’s limbs from the sockets.

The acting here also isn’t anything to boast about, not surprisingly. Wesley Snipes looks bored with every stilted line and glance of his eye; Anne Heche, like Snipes, was in it for the (presumably) small payday; and Dave Annable, who was basically the lead, wasn’t terrible but hardly charismatic, and a character background that includes a child killed in an accident which has little impact on the story outside of a contrived fight with one of the other team members.

Perhaps somewhere in here, Armed Response could’ve been a fun little horror sci-fi thriller but instead it’s a haphazardly written script, and I have to wonder if Savelloni wasn’t the only one who worked on it, with lazy performance and so-so direction, though some fo the cinematography wasn’t half bad, so there’s that… Bottom line is, don’t even bother renting this, with some editing could’ve aired on SyFy.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.0/5

This release comes with a glossy slip cover and inside is a code for the Digital HD copy. The only feature included is a basic behind-the-scenes featurette, Inside the Minds of Armed Response (15:33; HD).

Previews – Shot Caller, The Hunter’s Prayer, The Assignment, The Girl with all the Gifts, Kill Switch

VIDEO – 4.0/5

AUDIO – 3.75/5

OVERALL – 2.0/5

Without the weird-ass ending, Armed Response would’ve just been another non-descript, run-of-the-mill direct-to-video action-thriller, one that will only catch your seeing Wesley Snipes on the cover. As it is, this isn’t a good movie from the acting to the screenplay and should be avoided. The Blu-ray release has good video/audio transfers and a throwaway featurette.