Bullet Points: The Hard Way

I have seen at least three other films from director Keoni Waxman including A Good Man, Hunt to Kill, and Maximum Conviction and I must say that he knows his action. He also knows how to feature his stars. Whether it is a clearly out of his prime Seagal, an inexperienced Steve Austin, or simply giving action veterans Michael Jai White and Luke Goss enough time on screen, Waxman seems to have it under control. Let’s find out if The Hard Way gets it right where it counts.

Synopsis: After learning his brother died on a mission in Romania, a former soldier teams up with two allies to hunt down a mysterious enemy and exact revenge.

• Trouble in Europe: The film mostly takes place in the nation of Romania. It’s there that Cody (Grant Campbell) and Mason (Luke Goss) are chasing down some dude in a parking garage. No clue who the fleeing man is but he gets a shot on Cody and Mason is left trying to figure out how Cody was connected to the killer and where to take the investigation.

• Brothers: Payne (Michael Jai White) owns a jazz club in New York but rushes to Romania when he hears his brother Cody is killed. Payne isn’t the type of guy to sit on the sidelines and wait for answers to come to him. He’s a former Spec Ops guy and already showed us that he can throw down when the beat the ever-loving shit out of a couple of goons in his bar. Payne connects with Mason and his boss Briggs (Randy Couture) and begins to learn what he can about Cody’s death.

• Romania…what a trip: Good thing that Payne is so familiar with the area because he uses many of his old friends/girl friends to get information on what happened to Cody. I always love seeing movies when someone goes to a foreign country and has to deal with the culture shock of being somewhere new. It wasn’t the case here. I would have taken the opportunity to demonstrate Mason’s value a bit more by having Payne need him to get more details on his brothers death. It seemed far too easy.

• Joe Vig is a dick: George Remes plays Joe Vig. He’s the man that is so easily hated and the man who would have won “most likely to be killed by Michael Jai White” award if this was high school. He’s a Romanian actor who you may have seen in some other movies but I doubt you’ve seen him torture and murder anyone like this. Let’s just say that by the time he finally gets face to face with Payne…well, I think you’re smart enough to know how it’ll go down.
• Who is Torro: The film takes us to dance clubs where Mason and Payne get info on Joe Vig and his associates and we realize that this criminal situation goes much deeper than Cody’s death and some low level killings. Behind everything, though, is a mysterious man in a cowboy hat called Torro. No one has any clue who he is but I would be lying if I said the revelation is much of a surprise.

• Collateral damage: Someone has to die. You can’t have a duo of Luke Goss and Michael Jai White just take out all of the bad guys without them getting a blood stain or two on themselves. It’s a pity, too. It’s always the random best friend or the ex lover that gets killed in these types of movies.
• The Gate to Hell: The final showdown sets up nicely as our heroes set a trap for Torro. The bad guy shows up with about 20 henchmen in ski masks but they’re about as useful as a knitted condom. Goss and White play Turkey Shoot with them and prepare for the final reveal/beatdown with Torro.

The Verdict: The Hard Way is stellar action movie from Keoni Waxman and another reason why we should get guys like MJW in more blockbuster movies. He has some of the smoothest fight scenes of any action star out there and Luke Goss is perfectly cast as his partner who feels like he’s been dragged through gravel for the past decade. There were a few parts in the movie that I would have shortened, including a funeral scene that dragged on for a long time. The finale is also really good and I loved the fight between Payne and Torro. Goss and random, unnamed guy who stood no chance also had a good fight towards the end as well. All in all, The Hard Way is a really fun actioner with plenty of MJW ass-whoopin’s to fulfill your every desire.