Bullet Points: The 2nd

From the moment I heard about The 2nd, I was hyped. And why not?

Ryan Phillippe won me over in the short lived series, The Shooter, so I was confident that Phillippe could carry an action film. Throw in Bulletproof Action favorite, Casper Van Dien, as the movie’s villain and there was no way I was not going to watch The 2nd the day it hit VOD…

• Making Up For Lost Time: Ryan Phillippe plays Vic Davis, a highly decorated soldier who was a Green Beret when he was 21 years old and moved on to become a member of the Delta Force. Unfortunately, Vic’s line of work prevented him from being the father he wanted to be to his son Sean (Jack Griffo). Then when Sean’s mother/Vic’s wife was murdered (thanks to an enemy Vic made in Iraq), Vic was even more distant from his son, not wanting to put him in harm’s way. That divide between the two became even greater once Sean went off to college. But Vic is looking to make up for some lost time, he has managed to get some time away and the plan is to pick up Sean from college so the two could spend the holiday break together up at the Davis family cabin.
• The 2nd Amendment: An underlying theme of the film is the ongoing debate about Americans’ right to bear arms. A case to repeal the 2nd amendment is set to be heard by the highest court in the land. This hot button issue finds a rogue group within the United States government looking to make sure the Supreme Court rules the way they want them to rule. This makes Erin Walton (Lexi Simonsen), a classmate of Sean Davis, a pawn in a plot to blackmail her Supreme Court Justice father to do the bidding of this rogue group.

• Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Things get off to a rough start for Vic Davis, he drops his phone as he’s packing up his vehicle for his trip with Sean, then on the way to pick up Sean, Vic finds himself in bumper to bumper traffic. This causes Vic to be late to pick up Sean… by the time Vic gets there, there are only two students left on campus, Sean and Erin Walton. Also on campus, a group of highly skilled operatives that are led by a man we only know as Driver (Casper Van Dien, Starpship Troopers), the man who has been ordered to abduct Erin Walton as insurance to make sure her father “does the right thing”. Driver is posing as Erin’s Secret Service detail that will drive Erin home for the holidays.
• Spidey Sense Tingling: Vic meets Sean outside the dormitory and the two shoot the breeze, while Sean makes sure his friend (and crush) Erin makes it out ok. Erin seems a bit confused that her usual Secret Service guy is there and there’s an awkward exchange between Erin/Driver… which does not go unnoticed by Vic. Then when Erin realizes she forgot her laptop and heads back inside, Vic can’t help but notice the suspicious characters meandering around posing as campus security and janitorial staff. Vic tells Sean to sit in the car and lock the doors and that he’s going to check on Erin and we are officially moments away from Die Hard in a Dormitory!!

• Business Picks Up: From here on out The 2nd kicks into high gear. The bad guys declare war on The Davis Boys for throwing a major monkey wrench in their plans to abduct Erin. This leads to shoot outs in the halls, close quarter brawls in the elevators and a last man standing battle in the weight room. There was even an unexpected car chase! There was also the fully expected battle between the two stars of the film, Ryan Phillippe and Casper Van Dien. But to its credit, The 2nd had a few more surprises up its sleeve…

After watching The 2nd, I can honestly say I got more than my money’s worth. The Die Hard game plan is a proven winner, but you still need the players to pull it off and The 2nd had two very capable leads. But Jack Griffo and Lexi Simonsen deserve some credit too. Both the Sean and Erin characters find themselves having to step up to the plate and both did so in a believable way that added to the action and story instead of detracting from it.

These Bonus Bullet Points will add to this review of The 2nd…

• Familiar Face: To help immediately establish Vic Davis as a highly skilled badass, there’s an action sequence before the opening credits with Vic extracting Senator Bob Jeffers from his office after a bomb threat is called in and then having to deal with an ambush on the road. Jeffers was played by William Katt of The Greatest American Hero and White Ghost fame.
• Words of Wisdom: “Three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead.”
• The Second 2nd: As the movie is winding down there is a tease that there may be a sequel, but then in the final moments the possibility of sequel hits you in the face like Onyx.