Armed Response review by Bobby Blakey
It’s been sometime since we got some good Wesley Snipes action other than his fun turn in Expendables 3. Now he is making a bit of a resurgence with a few new films in the pipeline with the first being the actioner Armed Response co-starring Anne Heche and WWE superstar Seth Rollins, but does it offer up some of the classic action his fans are used to or will it be a failed mission?
Armed Response follows a team of highly trained operatives find themselves trapped inside an isolated military compound after its artificial intelligence is suddenly shut down. The crew begins to experience strange and horrific phenomena as they attempt to uncover what killed the previous team. This film is more of an ensemble cast than a full on Snipes led vehicle that I was wanting, but I guess that is kind of to be expected with his time away. He does decent job in the role offering up his usual swag and hard-nosed persona, but doesn’t get near enough action time that he deserves. He has a few gun fights and at least one ok fight scene, but he just felt overall wasted in this role. The story is a bit all over the place and while not all that memorable it does at least attempt to do something different than you might think.
This plays up a more of an action horror flick than straight up actioner and has moments that work and a premise that could have been cool, but gets lost on itself more often than not. This is mostly due to the attempts at making it more than it actually is instead of keeping a streamlined direct approach. There is plenty of action here but most of it is forgettable and in turn making it one of those films that likely won’t connect with everyone. I wanted to like this movie so much with Snipes back on the lead cover art of an action flick, but hopefully this is just the beginning of his big comeback and we will get him back to Blade and Passenger 57 status soon.
In addition to the film this release offers up a featurette taking a look inside the making of the film. Join the mission with Armed Response available now On Demand and then on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD, and Digital HD October 10 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.