(The following isn't a full review, just a cherry picked one. Biased and probably wrong, but that's entertainment, so let's go on with our lives, shall we?)
I've expected a good action movie out of this, but unfortunately it wasn't the case. Although the movie has some good parts, overall it fights for its credibility.
Without going too much into details, a conman is throwing himself in a jail, in an attempt to escape a following hitman. Things are getting more complicated when another hitman enters the scene. The corrupted cop is also there and here we go through a long series of bullets and explosions, shattered glass and fires.
Now, I don't know if it's part of the female empowerment movement or not, but for me the main character (Valerie Young) is just not solid enough and fails to convince me. You'll see below why's that.
For the first 30 minutes is just preparation, however things are getting interesting when the action unfolds. The scene with resetting the numerical code for the secure detainees area is quite humorous.
Valerie manages to change code just in time and enter the secure area, escaping the crazy hit- and madman called Anthony Lamb. But not before she manages somehow to shoot herself. Yes, you're reading right. Valerie does to herself more damage than Anthony with a roaring UZI can.
Talking about the UZI, how about those bumbs in the bulletproof door? Are they impressive or what (and completely unrealistic) ?
Meanwhile, the bad guys are trying an alternative entering to the area, by using pure brute force on a concrete wall. Probably they wanted to spend also Xmas on that spot, but that's ok:
On the other side, Bob Viddick (played by Gerard Butler) wastes no time and magically, after being handcuffed for most of the time, manages to get rid of the annoying bracelets.
What follows are some action scenes. Not bad for this part, but then the encounter between Viddick and Murretto takes place. And Murretto shots Viddick. With the UZI. But for some reasons, he's not quite dying at this point; even more, he's managing to flee the scene. Murretto doesn't bother to follow or to question what had happened.
But Murretto is in need to burn the whole place to the ground, and conveniently he finds some petrol waiting for him in the open.
Hey, remember Valerie? The shot (by herself) cop that was basically dying next to that door. Yep, she's not dying, but she's back for the full action. She runs, jumps and climbs the internal structures of the police station with ease.
She manages to take care of Murretto and she's helped by Viddick to get on her feet again. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, you might ask?
Not really, no.
And don't mind the fact that she's still hurt. Totally cool, she's high-jacking the ambulance that was there to help, and starts a crazy pursuit of the Viddick. Probably she's breaking tons of internal rules and laws doing that, but the hell with it. It's now personal matter.
Luckily, the movie ends here. Solid acting from the two bad guys (Viddick/Murretto) but weak script overall. It looks more as B-movie that an A action one. Final rating: 3/10.
