Bullet Points: Section 8

From the moment I laid eyes on the Section 8 trailer, I knew it was a movie I wanted to check out ASAP. What wasn’t to love? Intense action, a cast of familiar faces and the mystery of a story surrounding a secret government agency.

The Christian Sesma directed Section 8 will be streaming on AMC+ and in select theaters this Friday September 23rd courtesy of RLJE Entertainment, but my review is available right now…

• Special Forces: The movie begins five years in the past with Jake Atherton (Ryan Kwanten, Red Hill) deployed in Mosul, Afghanistan and serving with the U.S. Army Special Forces. The opening scene could have been the first and last time we saw the Jake Atherton character if not for the actions of Atherton’s commanding officer, Colonel Tom Mason (Dolph Lundgren, Red Scorpion) after a mission goes awry and Atherton and his team are surrounded by hostile forces.. Thanks to Mason, Jake is able to return home to Riverside, California. And that is exactly where the movie jumps to as we see present day Jake Atherton working as a mechanic for his Uncle Earl (Mickey Rourke, The Expendables) and living and loving the civilian life with his beautiful wife Ashton and his son Weston.

• Gang Bangers: Section 8 does a great job of establishing Jake Atherton’s life in a short amount of time and then just as quickly takes it all away from Jake. It all starts when Jake goes into work to find his Uncle Earl being shaken down for protection money by the menacing Fresh (Robert LaSardo, Drop Zone) and his gang. Jake pulls out a wrench and starts fighting the gang bangers and making a very dangerous enemy in Fresh in the process. How dangerous? In the blink of an eye, Jake’s entire world is taken away from him and he soon finds himself serving time in San Quentin… a facility he will presumably spend the rest of his life in. Again, Section 8 moves the story along at a fast clip, but still providing enough time for the viewer to register the significance of the events taking place without bogging it down with prolonged scenes that aren’t necessary.

• We Want You: While in prison, Jake receives two visitors… The first, his mentor and the man who saved his life, Col. Tom Mason. Mason shows a genuine concern for his fellow solider and tries his best to provide some comforting words to Atherton who is in the worst point possible in his life… The second, a mysterious man that Atherton has never met, Sam Ramsey (Dermot Mulroney, Young Guns). Ramsey doesn’t believe that Jake Atherton belongs in prison, he feels like he should have received a medal for what he did. Then Ramsey mentions a small private task force that he operates… but Jake is in no way interested. However, Sam Ramsey does not take no for answer…

• Welcome to Section 8: After being abducted from his cell, Jake soon finds himself being initiated into Section 8… Jake gets a general overview of the clandestine government agency and is assigned a watcher in the form of Liza Mueller (Tracy Perez) and is then quickly sent off on his first assignment in Jalisco, Mexico to prove he is Section 8 material. But it is the second mission that changes everything for Jake Atherton and at that point he has to decide what is worse.. what his life would be like doing the things Section 8 is going to require him to do OR what life would be like if he defected and had Section 8 hunting him down. Jake chooses the former, getting on Section 8’s bad side which includes the stone cold killing machine Leonard Locke played by Scott Adkins in a small but impactful role.

Section 8 is a lean, mean action thriller! There really is no fat to trim in the movie, every scene has a purpose, making the movie an easy watch. Section 8 also has star power going for it with veterans of the action movie game giving the movie a boost. And what about our hero? While I wouldn’t categorize Ryan Kwanten as an action star, Ryan Kwanten definitely falls in the “actors who can effectively do action” category.

These next set of bullet points definitely fall in the Bonus Bullet Points category…

• Written By: Section 8 was a joint effort by Chad Law and Josh Ridgway. Chad Law has built up quite an impressive resume of action films over the past decade or so, with titles like 6 Bullets, Close Range, Daylight’s End and The Shadow Effect. And just as a cheap plug, Chad was a special guest on The Avenging Force episode of The Bulletproof Podcast.
• If You Ever: ..wanted to see Scott Adkins cause chaos in a casino, then it’s a good bet that Section 8 is the movie for you.
• Did I Hear Somebody Say: … Dead Man’s Party?
• Physical Media: For those wanting to add Section 8 to their physical media collection, it drops on Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday November 15th!