Bullet Points: Rogue (2020)

Sometimes a movie is so bad it is actually kinda good, and sometimes a movie is so bad it is simply bad. My task is to determine which of these statements is true with Rogue. So, the fantastic readers of Bulletproof Action, I ask you to sit back and relax as I try to make it through this review.

• The Plot: Rogue is about a group of mercenaries. Their mission is to rescue a young lady who has been kidnapped by some crazy fools in the South African jungle / forest / countryside. Of course, the shit hits the fan, as the team is forced to fight to survive the night and accomplish the mission. Rogue stars Megan Fox in the lead and it features Strike Back’s Philip Winchester. The rest of the supporting cast is mostly made up of actors from South Africa. Rogue is directed by M.J. Bassett. If you’re a Strike Back fan like me, M.J.’s name should ring a bell. M.J. wrote and directed a lot of episodes of Strike Back and M.J. is also the screenwriter for Rogue.

• The Fox: I’m not going to lie: The main reason I watched was to see Megan Fox shoot an assault rifle and kick some ass. Is she a badass in Rogue? Kinda would be the right answer, and if you’re a Strike Back fan, I’ll simply say: She’s no Novin. When she’s operating a weapon, she does look the part. This is probably due to M.J.’s experience with directing action. M.J. knows action, and we do have some crazy action in the beginning as the team is being chased by the goons, and when one of their team dies, they just throw them out of a Jeep and keep on trucking. It is pretty hilarious. For some reason, I couldn’t stop laughing during these intense action scenes.
• Everybody (Backstreet’s Back): If I was to tell you this song by the Backstreet Boys is featured four times during Rogue would you believe me? Philip Winchester’s character loves to sing this tune while fighting bad guys. I did not expect this. Thankfully, Philip kicks ass even with all that Backstreet business. If Philip wasn’t in Rogue, it could possibly be one of the absolute worst action movies of the year. The team isn’t made up of the sharpest tools in the shed. A lot don’t get glory deaths. Most of the deaths are lame as hell. (More about that lame in just a minute.)There’s no Billy Sole dying in Rogue.

• The Lion King: Maybe I didn’t pay attention in the trailer but what in the Joe Exotic Hell are these lions doing in Rogue, and why are they killing everyone in sight? Megan and her team are being chased by DJ Khaled’s doppelgänger, and they end up at an abandoned lion farm. Well, not all the way abandoned. Guess what is waiting for them? CGI lions. The CG is awful. There’s no Game of Thrones CG in Rogue. I’m guessing the CG in an episode of GoT cost more than the entire budget of Rogue. We also get more than one team member going out like Samuel L. Jackson in Deep Blue Sea. They say something crazy, and the damn lion eats them. Multiple team members die by lion. We also have someone die by a giant alligator. I thought I was watching Lake Placid, but Betty White never shows up to drop an F-bomb.

• The Action: I expected a little bit more from M.J. Perhaps, budget restrictions prevented the action from being top-notch. Even a lot of the gun fire looked CG added. I’m not sure if any live rounds were used, or if all the gunplay effects were added in post production. That’s a big no no with me. At least when you fake it, make it look somewhat real. A couple of the stunts featured actors who looked nothing like the person they were doubling for, and no one tried to hide it. Like I said earlier, if it wasn’t for Philip Winchester, I would tell you to avoid Rogue like the plague. Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking Rogue is a great movie. It is an action movie with a lot of faults that’s only watchable when you know exactly what you’re getting into. You’ve been warned. Watch at your own damn risk.

Bonus Bullet Points:

• Exploding Helicopter: Take note friends at one of our favorite sites, Exploding Helicopter, there’s an exploding helicopter about 16 minutes in.
• Favorite Quote: “Fuck you, pussycat!” Said by Philip to an almost realistic looking lion.
• Second Favorite Quote: “Which Bitch is going to kill you?” Said by Megan Fox. No need to explain any further.