| The Defender (2004) Cast:Dolph Lundgren, Jerry Springer Dolph Lundgren stars as a secret service guard who while guarding the president's aid finds himself called into action when a gang of mercenaries storm the stranglehold and try to assassinate the president's aid, however not everything is not quite as it seems in the very impressive directoral debut of Dolph Lundgren. Dolph Lundgren is one of the few actors in the genre that can work not only as a cookie-cutter action hero but also in character driven actioners, in all departments is one of the most credible actors in the genre. No doubt, so what makes The Defender so impressive, is that the script never settles in one direction. There are some twists and for that The Defender must be considered one of the best movies Lundgren has made in quite some time. Infact with a bunch of style over substance crap coming out from Hollywood, one is left only shocked by the overall factor that this made on a five million dollar budget manages to not only trounce anything Michael Bay has done but also stands up as one of the best actioners to come straight to video in a long time. Infact one would like to see Dolph Lundgren direct more, infact it seems that if he does ever give up acting, he shows definite flair as a director. To say how well Lundgren directs, consider that Lundgren manages to get a decent performance out of Jerry Springer who plays the president! However what always makes these kind of movies work is the action, and here to Lundgren proves to be no slouch, he crafts some very exciting shootouts (Especially the mercenary raid in the beginning) and although Lundgren doesn't craft a perfect film, there is something to be said about a thriller that actually leaves you thinking how intellegent it is. D.Dolph Lundgren*** |