Vin Diesel puts down the gun and puts on an apron. This seems to be an attempt to follow Arnold Schwarzenegger from the action realm into the comedy realm with decidedly mixed results. I remember seeing the trailers for this many months ago, and simultaneously I had feelings of curiosity and a sense of fear. On one hand this was an opportunity for Vin to stretch his versatility, on the other hand does he have the versatility to actually stretch?
I put off seeing this for a long time, but I finally got around to it. The film is partly a send up of action film cliches and partly a generic comedy that is harmless entertainment for the entire family. Of course, I could be reading too much into it.
The movie opens with a generic action sequence. Vin is Lieutenant Shane Wolf and he is a Navy SEAL, and he is leading a team to rescue some scientist type who has been kidnapped by the enemy. This mirrors many of the opening sequences of action films, particularly those of the 80's, which serve to introduce our hero and establish him as such. This one works well, establishing Shane Wolf and also giving us the beginning impetus of the story.
I am sure mostr of you are aware of what this one is about. Following the events of the opening sequence it becomes imperative that he protect the scientist's children while their mother flies to Europe to uncover a necessary secret. At this point it slips into a by the numbers comedy. I am sure that most of you can guess how this one goes. First the kids attempt to rebel against the interloper. Interloper asserts control, and tries to explain why he must be there. Something happens which brings everyone together. Interloper and kids adopt each other. This leads to a final confrontation with the bad guys where everybody works together to the benefit of all.
The movie is pretty harmless and mostly forgetable, but still works as pretty good entertainment for the family. Vin does a decent job at poking fun at his tough guy image and essentially playing straight man to the kids. Brad Garrett does a good job playing the school's vice principal and wrestling coach who bulllies the kids. Lauren Graham makes a valiant attempt at playing the pricipal, but isn't really given all that much to do besides be shoehorned in with Diesel.
Bottomline. Although it seems slightly sanitized and watered down, it still contains enough laughs to skate by on being innocuous. Safe for the family entertainmnet. Maybe now Diesel can dig himself up a good script with a good director attached so he can finally realize his potential.
Mildly Recommended.
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