Big Bad III Review: In UNDER FIRE, A Lean Action Comedy That Doesn’t Miss
Penned by Adrian Speckert and Cory Todd Hughes, Steven C. Miller’s Under Fire follows Griff (Dylan Sprouse) and Abbott (Mason Gooding), two gunrunners efforting to land a huge score of cocaine with a Mexican cartel boss. Little does Griff know that Abbott is an undercover DEA operative hanging by a thread, and with their latest move thwarted by the head honcho’s paranoia, the two are forced to find new means of acquiring their goods.
As the film moves forward, it’s not until the two are about to make a breakthrough at a remote location when Abbott pulls out his badge at the same time Griff pulls out his own, signaling him as FBI. Matters escalate when both find themselves under heavy fire amid exploding landmines and bullets from a sniper atop a ridge, forcing the two Feds to work past their differences in order to resolve their latest deadly impasse.
Buddy cop thrillers of old haven’t all aged well with everyone. That attribution goes specifically for fans who still ardently love those kinds of films from Walter Hill, Martin Brest, Tony and Ridley Scott, Richard Donner and the like. This isn’t necessarily to say there’s a limit to the reach of Miller’s newest release as it certainly doesn’t. He definitely has his hand on the pulse when it comes to these aesthetics in this actioner, and with performances and a chemistry by Gooding and Sprouse that makes their characters’ pairing all the more enjoyable on screen. Additional performances that add to the web of intrigue come by of actress Odette Annable who plays Abbott’s love interest, Vasquez, and Emilio Riveria who plays cagey cartel boss, Valentino.
A lean use of VFX enhancements like slow-motion bullets traveling add to the spectacle of violence and mayhem that underscore the action; The action is contained prominently in the middle of the desert with both characters wedged between volleys of sniper bullets and broken glass, and corpses of cartel soldiers used as canon fodder. It’s here that both protagonists find themselves saving each others’ lives, even through all the suspenseful twists and turns that unravel in the film which threaten to pit them against each other.
The film falls short of fully developing at least one area of its story as the mystery unfolds. Indeed there would have been more to keep track of, but I don’t think it would have been too much for the film to handle, although the good news here is that Under Fire still manages to fill in the gaps with a greater focus on dialogue to help keep things moving. Your eyes are on the two mains and everything else that happens around them from start to finish.
At a crisp ninety minutes, Under Fire tells a lean, bustling story that keeps the energy consistent for most of its duration. Barring the plot similarities as a cross between Donner’s Lethal Weapon, Bathazar Kormakur’s 2 Guns and Ryuhei Kitamura’s Downrange, Miller’s penchant for R-rated thrills and entertainment sticks its landing nicely, with a discernible action comedy puncuated by good drama and comedy beats, palpable R-rated action and violence, and writing that hits all the right notes. To this, if Miller were to offer more with Sprouse and Gooding in this capacity, I wouldn’t say no.
Under Fire will enjoy a special screening at the third edition of Big Bad Film Fest. The movie is currently available from Vertical Entertainment.
