Renny Harlin’s movies, while not Oscar-worthy, have proven entertaining in the past (Mindhunters, Cliffhanger) but his 12 Rounds is the first in a while (not counting the not-too-exciting Cleaner two years ago). Detective Danny Fisher (John Cena of WWE and The Marine) finds himself pitted against an international terrorist, Miles Jackson (Aidan Gillen), who blames him for the death of his girlfriend. Out for revenge, Jackson kidnaps Fisher’s live-in girlfriend, Molly (Ashley Scott), and gives Fisher twelve tasks to complete around the city of New Orleans if he ever wants to see her alive again.
Cena is reasonably believable as a cop who will stop at nothing to save the woman he wants to be his wife. Realistically, it’s not much different than The Marine, but we’re not watching the film for its finer points or its deep theological conundrums. We’re watching this to see if someone onscreen can right the wrongs in their world, and battle with the dark forces that threaten our families and our lives.
Cena’s Fisher is a good cop, and an average boyfriend, who is present when Jackson’s girlfriend dies. You see the scene a few times, but it still doesn’t necessarily make sense that Fisher is at fault—throughout, it’s hard to blame him for anything. But what you can see, what you do witness, is a reasonably faultless man who does everything in his power to rescue Molly and stop a terrorist from rampaging all over New Orleans.
Jackson has no such limitations: he’s willing to kill, destroy, hurt and terrorize to get what he wants (which becomes abundantly obvious later in the movie). And what he does is set Fisher up as Hercules or a boxer: he’s got twelve challenges to accomplish and then, supposedly, he’ll allow Molly and Fisher to be reunited.
There’s a runaway trolley car that Fisher has to stop (think Speed); plenty of explosives (think Blown Away); and a helicopter fight scene that will have you thinking about Die Hard or Cliffhanger. All of the movies that 12 Rounds makes your brain reference are better than this, but as a knock-off two hours of relentless action, you can’t blame Cena and Harlin for trying. So, to coin another sports analogy, this one might not be a homerun; but a ground rule double isn’t too bad either.
