During its' initial release, this movie was drubbed by critics and bombed at the box office, taking in a paltry $6 million. It seemed as if even the series' dedicated fanboys were staying away from it, so I decided to avoid it. (I also find it a good rule of thumb to not see any movie cross-promoted on "WWF Smackdown" -- take End of Days or Little Nicky for example.) Anyhow, I'm a fan of Donnie Yen's martial arts work and the box promised "More Action!", so I chucked my common sense and gave this a rental.

Well, this is a case of "good news, bad news" -- mostly bad. Yen does look pretty good in the movie, delivering his few lines well and kicking suitable ass in the two short action sequences he's featured in. If he can get with a good director, Donnie Yen could have a bright future in American movies. But even with "More Action!" (and "More Steamy Scenes!" and a "All-New Ending!" as promised on the box), this movie is a stinker.

Way too much time is spent on flashbacks between Paul and Lambert that really add nothing to the story. Well, they do, but there's no reason that without some good editing that these scenes (which seem to comprise the bulk of the movie) could have been reduced to a more manageable length. Really, I think the only reason that there's so damn many of them is just to please fanboys of the series, rather than tell a good story.

This isn't really suprising, though, since the script as a whole stinks. It's so full of plot holes, you could drive the proverbial truck thorough it. Case in point: when Duncan (Paul) is captured by a group known as the Watchers, he's miraculously rescued by his buddy Joe. Now, keep in mind that Duncan is supposed to be one of the world's best warriors. So we're supposed to believe that one old guy with a limp is tough enough to rescue him? Well, he does it not once, but twice, again during the finale. I've heard of plot devices before, but this is ridiculous.

Probably the worst part of the movie (besides Lambert's horrible Scottish accent -- you would think after four movies, he might get it right) is Bruce Payne's performance as the villain. He acts with a hammy schtick that makes Dennis Hopper in Speed look sedate by comparison. It's the icing on a rotten cake that should be avoided. In a year of bad movies (Charlie's Angels, Mission to Mars, Gone in 60 Seconds…need I go on?), this definitely ranks among the worst. View at your own risk.

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