Assault on VA-33
review by Bobby Blakey
Fresh off his fantastic film Born A Champion, Sean Patrick Flanery is ready to bring the action once again. This time he is bringing the action stars with him including martial artists Michael Jai White and Mark Dacascos as well as professional wrestler Rob Van Dam in the film Assault on VA-33. Could this flick bring the action fans are hoping for or will it fail to make its appointment?
Assault on VA-33 follows decorated army veteran Jason Hill on a routine visit to the local VA hospital where organized terrorists infiltrate the building and take hostages, including a decorated general, and Hill’s wife. The highly trained veteran is outnumbered and the last line of defense, taking on a building full of armed insurgents before it’s too late.
I would be lying if I said I was excited to see this film just with the cast alone involved. Despite all the talent involved this is Flanery’s show all the way. He always does a good job bringing depth to his roles and while he has done action before, his turn in Born A Champion made me all the more excited to see him in this kind of role. The story is more or less Die Hard in a VA hospital so it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. While it offers up some decent action and ideas it sadly doesn’t always deliver.
I was a bit bummed to not get more of Michael Jai White in on the action as he is mostly sidelined, but that’s just my own issue of wanting to see him kick ass every time. The same could be said for one of my personal favorites Mark Dacascos who spends most of the film separate from the rest of the cast, but does at least get to get in a decent action sequence. He brings his usual flair to the character and offersup a kind of other side of the coin variation to Flanery’s character making their face off more than just a regular fight, but wish they could have made this more of the focal point to the film.
The rest of the cast are hit and miss with wrestler superstar Rob Van Dam pretty much left in the van the entire film and never gets to get any memorable action in. The film doesn’t deliver as much as I had hoped, but my respect and love for martial artists Flanery, Dacascos and White pulls me in more than it might for others.
Know going in its like your average home release action film that entertains but had the potential to be so much more. Decide for yourself and check it out available now on DVD and Digital from Paramount and Saban Films.