SOLDIER BOYZ is the kind of derivative B-movie action I enjoy watching once in a while, although I think constant exposure to these films would drive me insane. This one is a low budget, updated version of THE DIRTY DOZEN, with a youthful cast and a plot that heavily relies on RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II for its thrills and spills. This is dumb, even lunkheaded stuff, never plausible for a second: the film never explores how or why the prisoners are going on the mission or for what reason. They just kind of head off and do their stuff in a series of explosive set-pieces that make fine use of bloody squib hits to up the ante of violence.
Leading this shames is '80s action man Michael Dudikoff. He's pretty unnoticeable here in the ensemble cast, and I kind of spotted that he looks a lot older than when I saw him last, and that was it. The young cast is a mixed-up group of Hispanics, tough black guys, and the token warrior woman thrown in for good measure. Character evolution is completely clichéd, with the bad guys turning good, and you can predict pretty much everything that happens. Nevertheless, I liked the drama they wrung out of the story, with Channon Roe's Neo-Nazi character taking top honours as the most entertaining in the film. A subdued Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa hangs around on the sidelines as the chief villain and does a little boo-hiss stuff.
I didn't care much for the climax, which over relies on tons of explosions to finish things off, but there is a fun if obvious twist later on. Elsewhere the action is well delivered in a kind of '80s bombastic fashion, but there's too much silliness in the way the guys fight. Not only do we have people shooting from the hip and using AK-47s one-handed, but one guy has watched too many John Woo films and runs around with his pistols tilted on their sides at all times. It just looks stupid. Aside from this and the inane title, SOLDIER BOYZ is a passable B-thriller for those charitable enough to watch it.
Leading this shames is '80s action man Michael Dudikoff. He's pretty unnoticeable here in the ensemble cast, and I kind of spotted that he looks a lot older than when I saw him last, and that was it. The young cast is a mixed-up group of Hispanics, tough black guys, and the token warrior woman thrown in for good measure. Character evolution is completely clichéd, with the bad guys turning good, and you can predict pretty much everything that happens. Nevertheless, I liked the drama they wrung out of the story, with Channon Roe's Neo-Nazi character taking top honours as the most entertaining in the film. A subdued Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa hangs around on the sidelines as the chief villain and does a little boo-hiss stuff.
I didn't care much for the climax, which over relies on tons of explosions to finish things off, but there is a fun if obvious twist later on. Elsewhere the action is well delivered in a kind of '80s bombastic fashion, but there's too much silliness in the way the guys fight. Not only do we have people shooting from the hip and using AK-47s one-handed, but one guy has watched too many John Woo films and runs around with his pistols tilted on their sides at all times. It just looks stupid. Aside from this and the inane title, SOLDIER BOYZ is a passable B-thriller for those charitable enough to watch it.