Director: Renny Harlin
Year: 2026
Country: United Kingdom/USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Action
Plot:
When a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup against the U.S., the president is forced to drive the presidential limousine and unlock the full extent of The Beast’s highly classified offensive capabilities to save his injured Secret Service agent, reunite with his wife, and save the world.
Review:
Overall, this was an intriguing if somewhat problematic genre effort. Most of the fun here is relegated to the series of impressive, highly enjoyable action scenes throughout that bring about the chaotic confrontations in place here. By keeping pretty much everything confined to the interior of the car, as the only real sequence that takes place outside is the opening march to the car under heavy gunfire, rocketry, and devastating explosions happening around them, there’s a sense of fun to be had with the way this handles the tactical confrontations featured throughout here. By focusing on him driving the car and the wounded Secret Service agent in the backseat bleeding to death, trying to keep him on target and out of danger as the constant enemy ambushes occur on his drive out of the city, these initial stages of the film bring together the kind of high-energy setpieces required of this. The constant close-quarters combat shootouts, strategic weaving, and general chaos featured here make everything that takes place here quite fun, especially with the constant back-and-forth narrative of trying to ensure he remains in contact with his command, instructing him through everything.
Outside of this, though, there are some big issues here. The story itself is the biggest problem, rendering everything into a disgustingly one-note approach, so it feels like a lot of suspense and intrigue is lost simply because of the format of film chosen. This is restricted to the interior of the car for nearly the entirety of the running time, focusing on the conversations he has with the wounded agent bleeding out in the backseat or getting the automated command center to accept his presence behind the wheel and take him through the streets to safety, meaning that the high-energy confrontations are all the same with nameless, faceless thugs brazenly shooting at an armored, impenetrable car zipping through the city, dodging explosions and civilians caught in the ambush. It’s nearly impossible to get an idea of what’s going on, who the villains are, what their purpose is, or even why they’re going after him, given how it all plays out, and with this never giving any specific confrontation with the villain so that those questions can be answered or the final battle has any kind of emotional impact, there are quite a lot of issues with this setup. These are what end up holding this one down.
Overview: ***/5
A really solid and likable one-note genre effort, there are some worthwhile elements to be had here that are concerned mostly with the action and explosions on display, as the rest of the film is pretty heavily flawed. Those with an interest in this type of genre fare, who are fine with its issues, or who are fans of the creative crew will have the most to like, as most others out there should heed extreme caution.
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