Andrzej Bartkowiak He has never been a top Hollywood director, so there is little demand for him. It is believed that there are three decent action films in his filmography: "Romeo Must Die", "From Cradle to Grave" and "Through the Wounds", but if you face the truth, then they are not high level. Bartkowiak's last directorial job was in 2009, after which he laid low. But in 2017 he surfaced in company with Alexander Nevsky and his “old friends” - Mark Dacascos, Tom Arnold and Kelly Hu with a new creation called "Maximum Impact". This US-Russian collaboration features quite a few familiar faces such as Evgeny Stychkin, Maxim Vitorgan, Anna Khilkevich, Stas Yarushin, Danny Trejo, William Baldwin, Eric Roberts and many others.
I won't beat around the bush - "Maximum Impact" - bad movie. I will say right away that the film would have been weak without Nevsky, although his contribution to this picture is absolutely monumental. Mister Universe is an important flaw in the film, but not the only one.
If you try to define the film in one sentence, it is incredibly boring and outdated, with a monstrously low level of ass-pussy humor. And the most paradoxical thing is that there are a lot of egg jokes in the film, but it’s precisely the humor that lacks eggs (if I don’t write about eggs in the review, the day will be in vain). The humor in “Maximum Impact” will not cause wild disgust among refined aesthetes, just as it will not cause guttural cackling among the bastard. The jokes here are so flat that they only cause bewilderment, a feeling of awkwardness and shame.
Either Tom Arnold's character relieves himself in the presence of the prime minister's granddaughter, or the characters use terms like “snigty little brat”, “wet sluts” (I think the original doesn’t sound any better), as well as metaphors like “your mother was the best teacher in the courses for whores,” plus they endlessly hit each other between the legs and stuff like that. It’s hard to say what target audience this is intended for. It seems that even in the late 90s such jokes would no longer be acceptable.
The film lasts 1:45, of which 40 minutes are scenes that are completely (absolutely) unnecessary for the plot, which already has a lot of stilts and crutches. It is clear that artistic assumptions and hyperbolization in an action comedy are part of the genre, so we should calmly turn a blind eye to all sorts of conventions. But it’s one thing when it’s stylish, funny and bright, and another thing when dullness reigns on the screen, with moves and turns we’ve seen a hundred times. And Nevsky.
The most interesting thing is that Nevsky had every opportunity to get out of his comfort zone. In a promotional interview for the film, he said that this time they decided to work in contrast: big Nevsky will play a computer nerd, and small Stychkin will play the threat of the underworld. And did you believe it? Fuck it, the emergency rate is too high. Stychkin acts as a tough cop for the first 10 minutes, and then he flashes his bald head on the backup dancers of Nevsky, who enters the arena and begins to turn the film into his benefit performance again, breaking the necks of his enemies with one look or a threatening movement of his jaws.
It’s good that Kelly Hu has a lot of screen time, which somehow sets off the dull madness. It’s just sad, because when Nevsky himself makes a film with his participation, then you laugh at this shit parade, understanding a certain exclusivity of the shitty moment. Not so with Maximum Impact. The film has some kind of budget, many different locations, a good picture and many actors are involved in the process, who somehow try, but all this does not cause laughter or just interest. And even Nevsky in the spotlight is no longer amusing, he just walks around with a brick face and does what he always does. And there is some kind of disrespect for the viewer in this screen action. There are times when you understand that the film was specially made so that you turn off your head, relax and just sit down for 1,5 hours. You, as a viewer, and the creators of the product have a kind of unspoken agreement: everyone understands what was filmed and why, and what effect should work. In the case of talented films, this works. "Maximum Impact" is not that kind of movie, which is why it doesn't work. And if Nevsky’s old films are a realm of mediocrity, then here is a realm of irrelevance and bad taste, when trying to make a “light movie.”
There are advantages of the film, and they are, first of all, a merit Mark Dacascos and Matthias Hughes, who gave at least something sensible precisely through their acting and interaction with each other, and not through their remarks, although their characters also have plenty of imbecility. It should be noted that Dacascos generally looked head and shoulders above all his colleagues, including our actors.
If you remember Bartkowiak’s old works, there was some kind of action in them that could catch your eye. In "Maximum Impact" there is none. There are chases, but you won't remember them. There are shootouts, but it's the stone age. Dacascos waved his legs a couple of times, but they didn’t let him prove himself, although there was one good knee strike. Kelly Hu fights a lot, but it’s all poorly filmed and rather primitive, although he was the fight coordinator James Lew.
In short, you don’t need to go to the cinema to see it, you don’t need to download the release online, just as you don’t need to wonder why the film is called “Maximum Impact.” And writing detailed reviews or trying to shoot such a movie with banter does him too much honor.
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Tags: Maximum Impact, Alexander Nevsky, Andrzej Bartkowiak, James Lew, Danny Trejo, Kelly Hu, Mark Dacascos, Matthias Hughes, Eric Roberts
Tags: Maximum Impact, Alexander Nevsky, Andrzej Bartkowiak, James Lew, Danny Trejo, Kelly Hu, Mark Dacascos, Matthias Hughes, Eric Roberts
The film is really bad, but this is Kuritsyn’s best. Dacascos pulled off his acting as best he could. Maybe Manila would have turned out to be slag, but not a terrible slag, if Mark had been there more. By the way, the joke “Why are all bad actors - yap - cool self-irony over Kuritsyn. If that’s what he intended, respect)))
I'll start from afar. You know, there is such a book and series of videos “The Secret”. Well, like, believe in yourself, sit and dream, and no matter how mediocre you are, you will succeed if you believe in yourself and think positively. I, like the rest of the Internet, am suspicious of this book, and some, not without reason, consider it a scam for suckers. But when I see Nevsky, such thoughts creep into my mind that “The Secret” is not lying. This man is absolutely mediocre! He has no looks, no charisma, no brains, nothing, but he has an all-metal belief that he is a star, and yet he stars with famous actors! Yes, the films are crap, and he himself is also just funny, but, goddamnit, someone gives him money for films, someone is producing this whole circus. For me, this is comparable to magic, that such a mega mediocrity still achieved something. That's what life-giving positive thinking does!
The film is complete G..., but better than Showdown and Roses. Dacascos and Hughes save. And why are actors being filmed: No one except Kuritsin films Hughes, Roberts, after his wife became his manager, is filmed everywhere, I saw some film where he was shown on the mobile phone of the main hero, so this is a creation for it's like a blockbuster. Dacascos does little filming, hosts a cooking show and sells food, etc. But Kuritsin is something, I have never seen a more foreign body in a movie; even Schwartz deserves an Oscar for every role compared to him.
I can't agree with the review. The movie is much, much worse :o)
I feel bad for “Angel of Darkness” - how can it be so mediocrely leaked? Once again...
Kuritsin. He doesn’t seem to look like Mavrodi, where are these fabulous people who give him money for the next... no, I can’t call him a turd, it’s a compliment. And they are underway! Are things really that bad for Dacasas, Hughes, Roberts, dear Trejo?
PS And thanks for the review!
Elbrus Nukite,
Trejo, I think it doesn’t matter where you play. Trejo in any trejo.
And the rest... well, so what? An international project, a more or less famous director, everything looks decent at first glance. I don’t think half of the actors even watched Nevsky’s films.