Bullet Points: Blast
When you think of action stars Eddie Griffin’s name probably doesn’t pop into your head. Griffin performed well in action comedies like Undercover Brother and Double Take, but would he be able to carry a movie that featured a lot more action than it did comedy?
If Blast is any indication the answer is yes. Griffin’s comedic skills certainly assisted him with the obligatory one liners and quips that any action star worth his salt is able to spew during the heat of battle. But Griffin is far from a grizzled veteran of the action movie world, but thanks in part to Blast’s use of a proven formula, Griffin pulls off being an action star.
- Die Hard on an Oil Rig: The great thing about the Die Hard formula is it can be moved to various locations, such as… an oil rig. The other great thing about the Die Hard formula is it takes a working class guy and lets him overcome the odds and become a true blue action hero. Blast borrows even more from the Die Hard formula as the events of the movie take place on Christmas Eve. If anyone else wrote this screenplay you might call it stealing, but since the writer was Mr. Steven E. de Souza… the man who wrote the first two Die Hard movies, it must be classified as recycling. de Souza also wrote the screenplays for Commando and Running Man so he has earned the right to recycle whatever he wants in my opinion.
- Our Hero: Eddie Griffin plays Lamont Dixon or Dix as he is referred to. Dix served in Iraq, became a firefighter and after the death of his friend and fellow firefighter, he left the department and became the captain of a tugboat. Dix also is the legal guardian to his deceased friend’s son. If that doesn’t paint the picture of a hard working, decent human being I’m not sure what would. Griffin is likeable in his role, he doesn’t over do it with the comedy and the action that he is involved in is believable, by action movie standards of course.
- The Premise: A group of terrorists posing as environmentalist gain access to the oil rig that is off the coast of California. Their nefarious plan is to hold the rig and the workers in it hostage until millions of dollars are wired to the less than ethical bank they do business with. Thinking ahead and knowing these electronic money transfers can be traced, they plan on launching an electro-magnetic weapon that will wipe out all electronic information on the west coast… of course it will also crash the grid, so you’ll have airplanes falling from the sky, telephones out of commission, hospitals unable to care for those in need, etc. What they didn’t expect was their plan getting screwed by Dix.
- Supporting Cast: There are quite a few familiar faces in Blast. Vinnie Jones plays Michael Kittredge the leader of the terrorist group. Tiny Lister (aka Zeus) is one of the goons working for Kittredge. Vivica A. Fox plays the FBI agent tasked with diffusing this terrorist situation and Breckin Meyer plays a wild card of sorts… he appears to be with Kittredge, but is he really? Spoiler Alert! No, he is actually a hacker turned informant for the FBI who managed to get recruited by Kittredge for his technical prowess. He ends up teaming up with Dix to help stop the terrorists and save the day.
I could say something corny like I had a blast watching Blast but that would be over stating my viewing experience. However, Blast was a fun movie. Die Hard based movies are kind of like pizza… there are varying levels of pizza goodness, but it is almost impossible to not enjoy pizza… unless of course you are a hipster pizza snob, but I digress.
Now to put a few more Bullet Points on blast…
- The Wig Party: If you ever waned to see Vinnie Jones wearing a bad hippy wig, than this is the movie for you
- Pele Kick: The absolute best moment in Blast is when Dix “Pele Kicks” a grenade in mid air… FANTASTIC!
- Annoying Kid?: The young actor who plays Eric is nowhere near the annoyance levels of the kids in Rocky IV or Lionheart. Maybe that’s why Blast was his only acting gig, he wasn’t annoying enough to be a child star.
- It Wasn’t Me: If you ever see Shaggy and you ask him if he was in the movie Blast and he replies with “It wasn’t me!” He is a liar!
I thought this was the Blast (1997) starring Linden Ashby (Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat), cos I really liked that film. You should review that and all!
Haven’t seen that one. I’ll have to check it out.