DARK ASSET Review: Byron Mann Supersoldiers His Way Through Lackluster Sci-Fi Spy-Fare
Saban Films will release DARK ASSET on VOD and in select theaters September 22.
I’ve long grown to appreciate Byron Mann for his contribution to my film consumption growing up since Street Fighter and the Mark Dacascos-led Crying Freeman, and I’ll always continue to believe he deserves to be a bigger star. For this, I love that he’s found posterity in a variety of roles that have kept him relevant to this day, and that’s not to say he hasn’t had some misses over the years. I figure that hopefully as long as Mann stays the course, the actor will get to proceed onward to some great projects aimed at showcasing him better on screen, that is, after writer/director Michael Winnick’s new sci-fi actioner, Dark Asset.
Mann is as strong an actor as his appeal in action-starring roles with a physique to match. Sadly, that’s what makes it so frustrating to see him play a dapper, stolen Lamborghini-driving mystery man who magnanimously pulls up, arrives as the unexpected dinner date to a beautiful, reluctant traveling office worker at a luxurious hotel, and regales her with his exploits as an ex-soldier-turned-runaway cyberspy – one who happens to be imbued with a chip in his brain that makes him smarter, faster, and all the more lethal. Sounds like the fun-as-fuck movie it should have been, I know, but stay with me…
Robert Patrick stars as Dr. Cain, the evil scientist who runs the program with a team that consists of two other cohorts named Vivian (Sabina Gadecki) and Alex (Marc Winnick). It’s not too long before we’re forced to hear Cain mundanely marvel at how advancements at technology have only furthered our evolution, and that’s not too long before John Doe (Mann), the latest subject of Cain’s experiments, spazzes out during an examination and shoots and kills anyone armed within firing distance before venturing out through the halls of Cain’s private facility to the basement where he puts the next phase of his plan in motion.
The rest of the film presses on with multiple flashbacks in between as John arrives at the hotel diner to join Jane (Helena Mattsson), sitting alone with the hopes of convening with a woman who was supposed to meet her. Bored and a bit peeved, Jane decides to humor John and listen to his seemingly unbelievable story, one of espionage, murder and greed, all featuring other past subjects of Cain’s program, as well as a corrupt Senator, a crooked businessman, a gangster with a small set of expensive cars, and a government agent (Shani Rigsbee) who may or may not be one of the good ones.
It’s not until halfway into Dark Asset that we finally get to learn a little more about poor-old Jane who would rather be at home in her sweats drinking wine instead of on the job attending some miscellaneous conference. Really though, the only thing other than Mann and Mattsson’s charisma and screen caliber keeping this film going is the occasional plot twist, including one that all but turns the story on its head. That’s good news for you if you’re not yet taken out of the film as I was by its contained setting and myopic, slow delivery topped by the forced enjoyment of John and Jane’s repartee, tawdry visual effects and green screen applications.
It helps that a good deal of the action choreography is shot and edited competently that Mann and other key characters involved in the action look great for what’s shown, along with some decent acting by our cast. That particularly goes for the brief guest run of Vietnamese film star Truong Ngoc Anh, whose recent select credits like Cuong Ngo’s Rise and Tracer should have warranted something more significant for her rare appearance in a Western production. Sadly, that’s not the case, and her only action sequence in the film doesn’t get the proper build-up it should have had which would have led to something a little more taut. Her departure on screen is just as inglorious, to say the least.
I could talk all day about the film’s plusses and how they all but should have provided me enough motivation to warrant Dark Asset as a sure thing. That’s not what I’m here to do, frankly, and thus, you’re welcome to give Dark Asset a shot via rental when Saban Films releases it later this month. Either that, or wait until it hits streaming. Invariably, Mann makes it worth the watch if you stan him enough, but there’s honestly no rush here.
