Dolph Lundgren is the star, writer, and director of COMMAND PERFORMANCE about the drummer of a rock band who must assist a green security agent in stopping Communist terrorists who have executed civilians attending a pop starlet's concert, as well as, kidnapping the Russian President, his two daughters, and some hostages, demanding a ransom to be made for several accounts. The leader of the terrorists is Oleg Kazov(Dave Legeno), whose father was to be arrested by President Petrov(Hristo Shopov), then a prosecutor, for his criminal coup against Gorbachev. Kazov's father killed his mother, then turned the gun on himself. Melissa Molinaro is Venus, a popular American pop starlet who is on tour in Moscow, beloved by Petrov's pre-teen daughters. Lundgren is drummer Joe, his band the opening act for Venus, their concert disrupted by Kazov and his gunmen who annihilate Petrov's many number of security personnel. Joe and Mikhail Kapista(Zahary Baharov), the lone security agent able to escape immediate death during the gun fire between parties must work their way through the building in order to rescue the surviving hostages who aren't made mincemeat by the bloodthirsty, sadistic Kazov. Meanwhile, outside the building, the Russian police and military are gathered to discuss a strategy to save their President. While there's plenty of bloody violence, Lundgren incorporates the tired jerky cam method during action scenes that has sure worn out its welcome. Also disappointing are instances when Lundgren destroys Kazov's goons in murky areas of the building where its hard to make out what's going on. Look, I want my violence visible, not out of frame or blurry, cameras or bad lighting ruining the experience. There's a lot of sound effects to inform us of how much the weapons hurt those damaged, and Lundgren doesn't go skimpy on the blood as it explodes when security guards or terrorists are hit with gunfire. I got to hand it to Lundgren, he looks good, has aged well despite being 53 years old and juicing when he was a young man pummeling Rocky Balboa. While there's lots of savagery, Lundgren does include some much needed humor, particularly nice jabs at rock-n-roll and pop, although the whole idea of teenage hottie Molinaro sexually drawn to Lundgren is a bit creepy. You know, I still believe Lundgren has the chops to remain a direct-to-DVD/cable action star.
Review of Command Performance
