After a rough special ops mission, where a young boy was
accidentally killed, Marine sniper Joe Lindwood (Ted DiBasie Jr.) is really
looking forward to spending some off duty time with his wife Robin (Lara Cox).
But Robin has a surprise for him. She’s working as a media consultant for a
brand new resort and she needs to be on hand for the grand opening to help
advise the owner. So Joe goes with his wife to the new resort, which is located
in an unspecified Southeast Asian country (although the nation’s name is never
outwardly mentioned, the film was shot in Thailand). All goes well with the
grand opening party, until the place gets invaded by a band of terrorists led by
Damo (Temuera Morrison).
Joe, who’s slightly injured during the attack, is taken to safety by Church
(Michael Rooker) an American expatriate who runs a scuba shop. When he awakes in
a medic’s tent, Joe learns that Robin has been captured by the terrorists, and
that the government is extremely reluctant to send in the troops to rescue the
hostages. Good thing for them they’ve got a Marine hanging around with nothing
better to do. After the goofy shenanigans of The Marine, one of the silliest films
around, my expectations for the sequel were pretty darn low. After all, The Marine 2 was
released direct to video, and the film’s original star, WWE wrestler Randy Orton,
was replaced when he had to bow out due to an injury.
Ted DiBiase Jr., another wrestler from the WWE stable, was Orton’s replacement,
and while DiBiase doesn't exactly have a broad range as an actor, his low-key approach makes him far more likeable than John Cena was in
the original. And unlike Cena, I could buy DiBiase as being a member of the
Marine Corps. Thankfully, director Roel Reine brings a more down to earth style to the
proceedings that’s very welcome. While the first film tried hard to be a
throwback to the action extravaganzas of the 1980s, the sequel smartly tones down
the super-human warrior approach in favor of a slightly more realistic fashion, and it works very well.
Granted, The Marine 2 still has its silly moments, such as when the bad guys drop
their guns to utilize the latest hand to hand combat craze; or the climatic
mano-a-mano battle, which gets dragged out between the good and bad guy through
an entire village. But rookie actor DiBiase is surrounded by some great actors
in this cast, such as Morrison and Rooker, and Reine masterfully keeps
the suspense taut, especially during the action scenes. Overall, The Marine 2’s
smart, well thought-out story shows that a rousing action film doesn’t have to
be completely brain dead in order to be entertaining. And that a sequel can be
light years better than the dopey original movie. --SF
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