User Reviews

Yes, I saw this movie. Why? Because it was free. No one expects this to be a groundbreaking action movie that changes the face of the genre. I didn't even expect it to be a decent ripoff. But hey, I had a good time watching this one...it's not going to go down as epic or anything, but it's certainly not the worst product featuring a wrestler in a starring role (Doom, anyone?). This is all well and good, but they should change the title of this film to '12 Rounds of Insanity', because there's no way any of this movie is possible.

That's where the chuckles will begin. The premise of this movie, pretty much 'Saw' crossed with 'Speed', is rather clever - it's the one reason I didn't hate the movie - however, this doesn't change the fact that this is one of the most ridiculous and insane movies of recent memory. I don't mean insane like...cool insane. I mean insane as in that only an insane person could see the events of the film as realistic.

Is Renny Harlin still capable of directing decent action? Sure, as '12 Rounds' doesn't do a bad job supplying some quality stunts and explosions, which, let's face it - is all the audience really wants from this movie. 'Die Hard 2' was a worthy entry in that series (though it may be the most forgettable), but hey, Harlin does pack the movie with enough action and thrills to make it at least somewhat entertaining.

John Cena, as we know, is not an actor...I do not expect him to deliver award worthy work, therefore he does not disappoint. He does have an air of likability about him, but he doesn't have the same level of charisma as most other action stars nowadays. I don't even think he smiles in this movie. Again, is Harlin known for getting great performances? No, so you shouldn't expect anything more. What's kind of sad is that the actors in the movie, the people who actually have that as their first profession, are nothing short of laughable. Ashley Scott in particular was disappointing because of her lack of emotion. Aidan Gillen is a passable villain (though he couldn't have been cheesier if he tried), and is also the character hurt most by the ridiculous events in the script. Brian White as Cena's partner was probably my favorite character and performance in the film.

In short, '12 Rounds' is not a movie that should be taken overly serious. It aims for an audience who expects cool explosions, a fast talking villain, and a ton of action. In that respect, this movie is alright. It's also the first action movie this year that the kids (around 9 or 10 and up) should be okay in, as there's very little language and no sex at all. If you go in with low to modest expectations (or are in the mood for exactly what it promises), '12 Rounds' might just be a decent movie.

The movie has a good idea and some really seat-gripping excitement. It reminds me of Die Hard with a Vengeance but even more exciting. The plot is good with enough twists to keep everyone's interests.

I have only one negative thing to say...and this is that I hate the type of camera work in this movie. It seems to be the latest rage in movies...to have jerky-action shots. Personally I think it looks amateurish and makes the watcher slightly nauseous. What a shame to do that to such an exciting film.

Even with that type of photography, I would still recommend this film and have done so. I had never seen any advertising for this film and would not have gone to see it had I not looked up a synopsis of it.

As you may or may not know John Cena's film '12 Rounds' was released in Australia on the 19th of March.

Just got home from seeing it and i have to say it was great. Good, solid movie all the way through. Having Renny Harlin as director obviously helped make this a much better effort than previous WWE films. Don't want to give away too much cause i really think people will actually like this movie and that they should go see it. Good cast - Brain J White was by far the stand out. But I have to say John's performance was so much better this time around and you really can notice a difference between his acting ability in '12 Rounds' and 'The Marine'. He's not as tense and you can actually believe what he's saying. There are little tiny things (maybe like 2 moments in the film) that your like 'as if that could really happen' but the story keeps you too focused to really care.

If you like car chases, you'll like this. If you like John Cena, you'll like this. If you like a little Drama/Romance (Ladies?), you'll like this.

Go see it, I swear you'll be surprised.

Gripping, original action movie with the wrestler John Cena desperately trying to find the means avoid his girlfriend to be murdered . Exciting screenplay that dispenses absurd excitement as well as amusement . Excellent thriller full of intrigue and tense, this is a fast-paced, stylized action-suspense film. The tension of this picture keeps snowballing as the clock ticks ever close for killing his lover .Detective Danny Fisher (John Cena) discovers his love interest (Ashley Scott) has been abducted by a ex-con (Aidan Gillen) tied to Fisher's past, and he'll have to successfully complete 12 challenges in order to secure her safe release. The tale appears to unfold in real time as the many stirring and intense scenes will verify. Most unusual is the device of having the victim play desperado and hunt the killer, and saving his girlfriend , as time runs out.

This mindless, interesting and ingenious film is packed with thrills, suspense, tension and lots of interminable action. Enjoyable battle of wits between two main characters, Cena and Gillen , based on risked circumstances work out pretty well . Witty argument that dispenses excitement as well as entertainment . Casting is frankly well, John Cena is fine as tormented and intrepid cop , Aidan Gillen steals the show and takes honors as psychopath who attempts to turn the tables on the victim before he can chase him and a gorgeous Ashley Scott . Plus, a good secondary cast, such as Brian White as his best friend , Steve Harris as FBI agent and Nick Gomez among them. Adequate musical score accompanying the action by Trevor Ravin and inventively photographed , using Steadicam or hand-held camera by by David Boyd reflecting splendidly New Orleans streets .The motion picture is professionally directed by Renny Harlin , he's expert on action genre such as ¨ Cliffhunger , Die hard 2 , Deep blue sea , Driven , Long kiss goodnight¨ and many others . Rating : acceptable and passable thriller movie . The picture will appeal to frenetic action buffs .

If you can just avoid asking "how?" you might enjoy this film as an exciting collection of action scenes. The villain does bad things, and the hero John Cena manages to save the day (as expected). Reality and logic are overlooked when they are in conflict with a good action scene. The fact that the action in this film could never, never ever happen is beside the point.

Very little time is spent on character development, since all you need to know is who the villain is. You find this out within a minute or two, and you can then switch off your brain for the rest of the film.

This film is immune to criticism. John Cena does not have any big acting scenes, and might even be capable of passable acting. However, he's not called upon to do much acting. His execution of the stunts and action scenes is amazing.

How can anyone complain about an illogical plot when the film was produced by the WWE and stars a professional wrestler? The movie was filmed entirely in New Orleans,and makes terrific use of dozens of locations. I probably gave it an extra point or two for this.

The scene with the "runaway streetcar" has got to be an in-joke, because the "real" Canal Street streetcar cannot travel more than a half-block at a time at a very, very slow pace. It is frequently blocked by vehicles stopped across its tracks. The havoc (if not revenge) wreaked on vehicular traffic by this runaway streetcar has got to bring delight to any local streetcar rider.

this very enjoyable action flick by renny harlin has opened in Australia with little fanfare. it a shame for it has all the ingeedance of a box office hit, good action,good plot,fast pace and a no brainer.

12 rounds moves at a hell of a pace which is great because if you think about it to long its just plain stupid.but it does, so you don't care well that is if you are a action junkie, and i guess you are or you would not be reading.

its good to see renny back on the big screen doing what he does best blowing stuff up.he made the better pirate movie in my option. so sit back relax put your mind in neutral and let the fun begin.

Renny Harlin has been relatively quiet these days, but I won't be shy in stating for a fact that I had enjoyed some of his action movies in the past, with the likes of Die Hard 2 (despite all the loopholes), Cliffhanger with Stallone, Driven (also starring Sly) and The Long Kiss Goodnight even. Despite being better known for duds starting with Cutthroat Island, Mindhunters and even The Covenant which turned out to be a comedy, 12 Rounds turned out to be better than expected, also because John Cena looked the classic action hero that Hollywood so sorely misses.

No, I'm not a WWE John Cena wrestling fan, because my interest in WWE was left back when it was known as WWF, and like The Rock (now wanting to be known simply as Dwayne Johnson), Cena follows in his footsteps in making that leap to the big screen. While his first outing as The Marine was pretty much straight to DVD fare, this one was designed for the big screen with its big set action pieces befittingly challenging the big man, and having an old hand of action at the helm helped to bring out some enjoyable moments despite clichés abound.

As the trailer would already have suggested, Danny Fisher (Cena) is a beat cop who gets in the way of a heist by international arms trader Miles Jackson (Aiden Gillen who was just a mile wide of being a memorable psychopathic villain), and in his pursuit causes the latter's main squeeze to die in a traffic accident. Ridden with rage, Miles remembers his pursuer so that he can exact revenge when he breaks out of prison. Only that he harbours some diabolical plot to play with his prey, hence the kidnapping of Danny's girlfriend Molly (Ashley Scott) and the devising of 12 rounds of city-wide games with the overcoming of each round leading Danny closer to his girl.

So begins a running around New Orleans to perform the usual one-man cop stunts that calls for everything from intellect to brute force. It could easily fit into the Die Hard franchise, or Speed for that matter as one sequence in a bus would have me reminisce. In shows like these, things do get a tad convenient, and though I tried to examine just a little bit more into it, the plot still made some sense and held some water. In some moments it seemed like it's paying its own tribute to the emergency services of New Orleans post-Katrina, with the police, fire and medical departments featured prominently as occupations of choice of its characters.

12 Rounds is rip-roaring fun. As an action film, it has enough thrills and spills if you'd just park aside believability for a minute, and bask in the possibility of one man saving the world only because it got personal stakes involved, coming complete with obnoxious FBI agents who think they know the world. Sprinkled with some light touches of humour, the body count here is surprisingly low, which in some way gave a breathe of fresh air instead of subscribing to the mantra that the more gruesome or gritty, the better.

But if there are qualms, it's directed more at the technical areas, like the lapsing into the shaky cam, where I had thought to roll my eyes and exclaim that Renny should have bought a bloody tripod for his DOP. Also, the editing probably needed to rethink his quick cuts in the final action sequence in closed quarters, as well as some cheesy lines where it's not warranted (I swear if I hear one more "wrong place, wrong time" comment...)

However if you go at this with expectations set low, you might just come out with a grin at the end of it. I'll be anticipating more John Cena movies to come, and will probably go dig at his older film as well, but here's hoping that he doesn't go the way that most action stars do - easy come and easy go - that he gets some longevity at the box office, before being unceremoniously pushed aside (if it does happen, like Seagal's career) to the straight to video shelves.

In recent years, there really hasn't been many truly great action flicks to warrant fans of the genre to go to the theaters. Sure, there has been a few entries in classic action series like Rambo and Indiana Jones hat met with varied success, but not much in the line of fresh new flicks has been produced (Except the awesome Crank). Thus we come to a film that really garnered next to no hype and slipped quietly into theaters, 12 Rounds. Is it the movie action fans have been yearning for? Danny Fisher, played by WWE superstar John Cena, is a New Orleans detective faced with a problem: an old terrorist named Miles he arrested a year back has broken out of jail and has taken Fisher's girl. Now the only way to get her back is to complete 12 rounds of a "game" that Miles created to finally get revenge on the cop that ruined his life. It's an unlikely scenario to be sure, but hey, this is an action flick, so it's just preposterous enough to make for an interesting plot. The thing I don't understand though is the fact that in the trailer for 12 Rounds, it is said to be directed by the same director who did Die Hard 2, and produced by the Speed producer. Why is this odd? Well, it is obvious right from the start that 12 Rounds is a blatant rip-off of Speed right down to some scenes being near carbon-copies. Well, at least they ripped off the cream of the action genre crop I guess.

One of the major compliments I feel I have to give to the filmmakers comes in that no noticeable CGI was used anywhere in the movie. CGI has been overused way too much as of late, so to see an action movie with good ol' fashioned stunts and explosions is great. What's better than no CGI is how all the action is done incredibly well. Between great car chases, huge explosions, and nicely choreographed fights, it's a feast for the eyes. Of course, all this awesomeness couldn't just stay awesome thanks heavily to the awful camera-work. Similar to Quantum of Solace's quick cuts and shaky camera during action sequences, 12 Rounds makes it difficult at times to tell what the hell is going on. I don't see what is wrong with traditional camera-work where viewers can actually enjoy the high-quality special effects since they can be seen in all their glory, but I digress.

Honestly, there really isn't much to say about this one. If you are an action fan that has already seen every Stallone and Schwarzenegger movie under the sun, then 12 Rounds is sure to entertain on a rainy afternoon. Granted, it doesn't bring much to the table in terms of new concepts or anything like that, but it's entertaining, and that all that really matters, right? Again, it's a complete and utter rip-off of Speed, but it's a damn fine rip-off, and I would be willing to call this Speed 2 more than that pathetic piece of crap film with the cruise ship. After jumping to conclusions when I saw John Cena as the star and it being a WWE Production, I was genuinely surprised by the entertainment value found within, and I think that if viewers go in with the right mindset, they too will have a great time.

If you shuffled together the scripts for Speed and Die Hard 3, and split it in two you'd have Daniel Kunka's script for 12 Rounds. The similarities are striking, and too numerous to list. But as a crash-and-burn action film it is very entertaining, has many exiting scenes, and features a charismatic villain. Unfortunately, John Cena, as the troubled hero, is about as emotive as a draft excluder (one of those long, stuffed snakes...remember those?). Cena is likable, but he's very, very, very far from being an accomplished actor.

One year after busting an international terrorist, New Orleans cop Danny Fisher is thrown into an impossible gauntlet when the criminal breaks out of jail. He must survive twelve rounds of increasingly difficult challenges in order to save his kidnapped girlfriend. The crook himself is Miles Jackson (played nicely by Aidan Gillen), a criminal mastermind who plays the deadly game fast and loose. As I said, he's a great villain, and one that you might partially side with after the accidental death of his girlfriend during the opening.

Renny Harlin has been slumming it for a while now. Ever since Cutthroat Island tanked he's had a hard time keeping his career afloat. When one watches all of his movies from different eras it becomes clear that the man has no style of his own and simply emulates whatever the current trend happens to be. His effort in 12 rounds is merely a pastiche of all the usual CSI/Michael Bay moves. The camera never sits still, regardless of whether or not it's appropriate to the scene. Trevor Rabin provides a rather generic score, but has a couple of nice, repeating themes that bring more emotion to the scenes than Cena is able to show.

12 Rounds will never win awards or even earn itself any particular distinction among action movies, but when you're having this much fun, who cares?

This could have been a good movie. Hard to say, though.

The owner of the store I rent from believes in customer service. He lets me know which movies he's heard have horrible, amateurish jiggle cam action, such as this one.

He also lets me preview it, to see if I could bear watching it.

This movie failed. Barely 10 minutes in, there is so much strange and horrid camera movement, that any good action shots will clearly be unwatchable. Generally, I find that such movies also have no plot.

This movie gets a 1, as all jiggle cam movies do and should. People wonder why theatre attendance is down, who can blame them when this garbage is what you're expected to pay for?!

John Cena, who should stick to the wrestling ring, does in 12 ROUNDS what boils down to a reprise of his character from THE MARINE. The plot is also the same, which has Cena once again chasing after his kidnapped wife. The actress playing the wife even looks like the wife from THE MARINE. The only difference is this time, Cena must match wits with an IRA type who puts Cena through a series of improbable tasks to save her. The film is of the shaky camera and CGI variety, and it frankly isn't as heart-pounding as THE MARINE. This is partly because we've seen it all before, and because the tasks Cena must undertake are completely unbelievable. Plus the acting is sub par. The flick also is highly derivative of past flicks like DIE HARD, PHONE BOOTH, DIRTY HARRY, CELL PHONE and LETHAL WEAPON, among others.

12 ROUNDS

This was a good action thriller. It was not the best action film I have seen,but it was entertaining.

The story was good, but not very original. It reminded me a lot of Die Hard with a Vengeance. It was about a cop who arrests a dangerous criminal, but during the chase the criminals girlfriend gets killed and he blames the cop for her death. A year later, he escapes from jail and kidnaps the cops girlfriend and the cop has to play a game to get her back. He has to run all over the city solving little puzzles to find her.

The casting was all wrong in this movie. WWE superstar John Cena played the main detective. John was OK, but he really should stick to wrestling. He didn't fit in this role at all. He was over the top and not very convincing. He was trying too hard and you could see it clearly. The best character and actor in this movie was Aidan Gillen. He played the main bad guy. He was good and believable in his role. I believed he had nothing to lose and didn't care about the outcome.

There was some good action scenes and the film really did cruise along nicely without me getting bored. There were a couple of moments where John made stupid decisions. He could have saved his girlfriend right at the beginning if he just phoned her straight away to warn her... instead he ran after a moving ferry?!? That didn't make any sense. But all in all, it was fun to watch and enjoyable. I just think that it would have been better if Bruce Willis played the main character. It would have been perfect as Die Hard 6.

I will give this film 6 out of 10.

Enjoyable and fun action.

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Policeman Danny Fischer (WWE's John Cena) captures career criminal Miles, but Miles's sexy accomplish dies in the process, so a year passes and Danny (who's since been promoted to police detective) now has to play a deadly cat and mouse game with Miles who has broken out of prison and kidnapped Fischer's girl. Danny has to use all of his wits and action wiles to survive the criminal's deadly 12 rounds.

The acting in this movie is sub-par, but the action is pretty much non-stop when it gets going. So essentially what we're dealing with here is a bigger budgeted B-movie (with the B, in this case, standing for Brain-dead) If you can somehow check your brain at the door, you'll have some fun with this flick. It's certainly better than what Director Renny Harlin has put out in the last decade (With "Driven" & "Exorcist:The Beginning" being particularly abysmal) It's not a great film by any stretch of the imagination and it has strong shades of the third Die Hard film. But if you're just looking for a film for a lazy Saturday night, you could do worse.

My Grade: C

DVD Extras: Both Theatrical and unrated versions (unrated runs about 2 minutes longer); Commentary by director Renny Harlin (unrated version only); Second commentary by Writer Daniel Kunka & actor John Cena (unrated version only); a short featurette on the film's stunts; 2 alternative endings with optional commentary (they're both the same as the original ending but with one or two added lines); a gag reel; and trailers for Wolverine: Origins, The Marine 2, Prison Break Season 4, Burn Notice Season 2, Possession, Street Fighter: the Legend of Chun-Li, & The Betrayed

Danny Fisher(John Cena) is a man who has the great life, he is police detective for New Orleans, he has a beautiful girlfriend named Molly(Ashley Scott) who is a nurse. But an incident that happened a year ago, will soon come back to haunt Danny. Before he made detective, he was a blue suit policeman, that was in hot pursuit of a terrorist named Miles Jackson(Aidian Gillian), and his girlfriend. When he soon had them cornered, Miles girlfriend tried to make a run for it, but is killed instantly after being hit by a car. Miles wants revenge on Danny. And in a year later, Miles escapes from prison, and kidnaps Molly, and blows up there house. Danny is forced to Miles deadly games, if he ever wants Molly to make it out alive. Will Danny save Molly before it's too late?

Although it is not very original, but entertaining for the most part, it does not try to be anything more then it is. It had terrific action, and I liked the enjoyable view of New Orleans. John Cena gave a pretty descent performance, I liked the way he was not played so one dimensional, like some action heroes are sometimes portrayed. Ashley Scott and Aidan Gilliam are also good. And well directed by Renny Harlin.

I got tired of watching wrestling years ago, about the time of stupid Doom movie (The Rock). I thought The Marine was great with the least crappy humor in it. I like this movie because of the action, besides some of the bad acting. John Cena good besides the bad reviews before me. I am just going to have to learn not coming here anymore because there are just way too many people would rather tear a movie down than say anything descent about it. Say all you want, but I have seen some bad movies. There are some comedies that I have seen for about last 15 years that are just considered ridiculously stupid as Heck. This movie is kind of like Die Hard series but I think it was good for being PG-13. Die Hard series were Rated R. So even if they bump up PG-13 movies a little closer to R, only rare ones are. This one is a regular PG-13 movie with no special extras toward a rated R. So this not much to compare with Die Hard except maybe the plot a little.

I like good action and most action movies are just for action anyways and not meant for best actors. As this being a Saw thing, well there was no people dying in contraptions like in Saw. As Saw being a Torture and Porn. You got the torture right but porn, think again. Not one of Saws has any couple or two man and women doing each other in the movie. There is hardly any nudity in any of them. So get the facts straight. Torture just does not mean automatically PORN. If you have watched the movie with James Woods (Video Drome), that is more of a torture and porn than Saw and Hostel. Video Drome was even soft porn. There is also a movie called the Crash that was about car crashes and having sex with others that are in the wrecks with was soft porn, but Saw and Hostel don't match it at all as Porn.

Man, coming to this site and people just make of crap just because they did not like the movie. Just because you have a personal problem about your thoughts of what you did not like of a movie, really will make people like the ones that actually did like the movie Roll Their Eyes at you. I have no problem seeing this movie again and I bet they will put this on regular TV as a special movie, but you never know now a days they are not putting anything really good on regular TV as movies. Dumb comedies about people making fools out themselves to think they are intelligent for being stupid, yeah that is funny, NOT. Funniest Home Videos are funnier. Enjoy this movie for the ones that watch action and enjoy it, I did and I think others will that at least know how to enjoy a movie.

This movie proves that John Cena has taken one too many hits to the head if he thought this would help establish him as an actress. Renny Harlin continues to disappoint with his movies. I found this movie boring, predictable and a combination rip off of well known action movies. Miles couldn't decide of he wanted to sound Irish or American. Sad for someone from Ireland. If our FBI is as incompetent as portrayed in this movie, we are in serious trouble. There was plenty of action, just no suspense in the action. John Cena should stick with Ghosthunters Live. There are more thrills there than in this movie. It was convenient how the bad guy could escape prison and it not be reported to the man that put him there and even more remarkable that he had the access to try to pull off his little heist. The only thing of value in this movie was the way events had to happen to make the bad guys plan successful. Too bad it was so poorly tied together. It was like watching a bad Scooby Doo episode. Scooby Doo tells the stories better.

If you're going to watch this movie, it will be to see vehicles crash into other vehicles and cause lots of damage. This movie does that very well. It will also be for the nonstop excitement in a number of scenes, including the thrilling runaway streetcar. And the suspense of wondering if Det. Fisher can complete each challenge in time, breaking all the rules along the way. He has so many challenges and each one just leads to another one, equally impossible.

Sure, we've seen this sort of thing before, but if I enjoy the formula, so what?

But this movie isn't without problems. Aidan Gillen didn't quite reach the point of being deliciously evil, though the potential was there and he achieved what I hoped for in a few scenes.

And some of the writing was pretty bad. Cops are supposed to be smarter than this. FBI agents are supposed to be smarter too. One of the movie's final scenes had some of the most pathetic writing imaginable. But that's just the dialogue. The action in that scene was great.

I was disappointed to see Steve Harris from the critically acclaimed "Awake" in this. He didn't add much. And by the way, that's not him asleep in that streetcar. I couldn't understand what he was doing there, given the urgency of the situation.

With all the killing that takes place, the violence isn't graphic. You know people die, but you don't see the blood.

I particularly liked scenes with Danny and Molly together when not trying to stay alive. One highlight is Molly trying to repair the plumbing and I'm not talking about her mechanical skills. These scenes had some funny lines, and as terrible as certain events were, the movie's last line was really funny.

It was ... interesting.