Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe (2011)
Before Sam Axe teamed up with Michael and Fiona, he was Commander Axe, U.S. Navy SEAL. The Fall of Sam Axe tells the story of how Sam went from respected Naval Commander to the man of mystery we've come to know on Burn Notice. On what will turn out to be Sam's last military mission, he is sent to the jungles of Colombia to investigate claims of a vicious terrorist organization known only as the "Espada Ardiente" (Flaming Sword). His mission: to determine whether U.S. military aid is necessary to deal with the threat. But when he arrives, things are more complicated than he'd imagined. He receives word that the rebels have targeted a small civilian clinic deep in the jungle. Sam must now save the clinic's doctors and patients from certain death. However, nothing is as it seems and the Espada Ardiente may not be the biggest threat Sam Axe faces.
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Colombia. A hospital needs protecting. The final mission before he retires to Miami. After it goes wrong, Sam(Campbell, and it is *his* show for sure: charming, goofy, serious when called for) faces an informal inquiry. What happened back there? With framing device securely in place, explaining the narration, we can begin.Sanchez' charity aid worker is too similar to her infamous Niki, though the snark fits the tone of the franchise. She does end up less frustrating than that. Maybe it's that I've seen both her and Paolo in roles where I don't hate them. Xerxes! Even when they give him nothing to do, he's awesome. And she's solid in A Perfect Getaway, an enjoyable if flawed film. A role not everyone could have handled. A doctor, an angry teen girl, and a few individuals who shouldn't be trusted - good guys and bad alike are compelling. We get nice, big fireball explosions, gunplay, stunt work and more. Guerrilla warfare, strategy in the face of uneven odds, this fits right in. You can go into this blind, though there are great nods for the fans.There is some bloody violence and disturbing content in this. The DVD comes with several extras. Its full hour and a half commentary track is informational and funny, featuring the star, the director and the show creator. There's 26 minutes of a great Comic Con panel. The Fall of Jeffrey Donovan is an 11 and a half minute joke documentary, as the talent supposedly cracks under the pressure – it's hilarious and easily the single best thing to come out of the production of the picture. The 1 and a half minute deleted scene is fine. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys spy action thrillers, and/or the work of the deeply enjoyable, the one, the only, the Bruce. 7/10
... and if you are not one, you should be.Look, Campbell was pushing 60 when he did this and his performance is so smooth that he qualifies for the title KING OF COOL with the likes of Steve McQueen and John Travolta.The whole thing has a tongue in cheek feel, but that is hardly a bad thing since most of the headlines these days have a foot in your *&&%% feel.The dialogue is sharp, the scenery is interesting, the women (all two of them) are pretty, and there is a beginning a middle and even an end to the story.What more could anyone ask for?
First, if you haven't seen this yet and want to, read no further--go watch instead, because you deserve to see TFOSA unimpaired by my dour outlook on it. Maybe it's unfair to take this vehicle MORE seriously than it takes itself, but I found it an overlong exercise in missed opportunities, implausible plotting, jarring inauthenticity in the military aspects, and performances that were sometimes a little too superficial (usually the show strikes a good balance between light banter and lethal circumstances, but here not so much). Strong performances by seasoned pros are what keep BN from skating into complete unbelievability (with my thanks and much credit to Sharon Gless, Coby Bell, and Gabrielle Anwar for that). Here, the two standout performances for me were Chandra West and Ilza Rosario, particularly the latter, whose publicity stills on IMDb hint at an entirely different career trajectory than the 'young Joan of Arc' persona she portrays convincingly in TFOSA (and kudos to the production team for casting her). If the rest of the company's performances had been up to the level of these two, and if the writing had been a little less careless about authenticity and believability, this might have been something. As it is, you need a big dose of "suspension of disbelief" to get through it.
TV movies are awful. They tend to be a 40 minute show stretched out to 90 minutes. This is not the case with BN:TFOSA. Bruce Campbell does his usual awesome job of entertaining the audience that you forget you are watching TV. I especially appreciated the nods to Evil Dead, and his book, thank you Bruce for being a fans actor. Many "A-listers" could learn a lesson or two about respecting the fans from you (yes I am looking at you George Lucas). Jeffrey Donovan does a admirable showing as a director. He used some good moves behind the lens without getting crazy. Many times directors will so desperately want to "show their style" they get funky beyond reason, not the case here. He kept the action steady and allowed us to enjoy it. Thank you. The writing was better than average as well. I can't review the script ( I didn't read that, and who knows how close the shoot came to it) but I can certainly see Mat Nix's hand on it. I would be surprised if they deviated much from his very excellent work as a writer. The only complaint I could make would be the realism factor was down. I know BN tends to lean toward the A-Team side of realism and The Fall stuck with that style.Since this movie was announced at Comicon last year I have been eagerly awaiting it. I was not disappointed, and if you like Burn Notice, neither will you.