Soldiers of Fortune (2012)

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Forget the romance or intelligent plot. The main thing in this movie is manly guns and booms and shooting some badly scripted, badly acted baddies.Normally, this would be worth of 6, but I add: +1 Star for easy and relaxing fun to watch. It had some mandatory "emotional non-fun", but I couldn't take them seriously. Another +1 Star for actors, who made the most despicable rich creeps you would love at end. Their chemistry with each other have bit of the charm of The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) and The Dirty Dozen (1967).Just give your brains some rest and grew an another chest-hair by watching this movie.

"Soldiers Of Fortune" is about millionaires who want to play soldier and end up getting involved in a real war. Of course, they all have different agendas, as we learn throughout the film. The problem is, this film has no idea if it wants to be a buddy comic film (see arms merchant Grimaud (Ving Rhames) paired up with video game designer 'Sin' (Dominic Monaghan)), or a serious action film, and basically is neither. It also has James Cromwell (NOT the bad guy for once), and the real baddie, Colin Meaney (playing well a mean ex-CIA agent named Mason, who sells himself to the highest bidder), basically collecting paychecks. The main reason to watch this film is to see Sean Bean (Dimidov), who turns in an excellent performance as a trader in precious metals, who starts out as a questionable character, and becomes a hero in the end. The worst performance belongs to Christian Slater (Craig McCenzie), who once again seems to think he is tough guy, but unless it is the cynical type (like in "Broken Arrow" or "Hard Rain") he is not. Spoilers ahead: Perhaps the worst part of the film is the ending where the "Soldiers Of Fortune" liberate an Eastern European Island from Mason, and the other bad guys, and save Cecilia (a stunning Oksana Korostyshevskaya). It was totally predictable about what would happen to each character, except who would end up with Cecilia? You think through most of the film, it would be Slater, but you realize that it was probably Bean, who ends up saving Cecilia's life, after a boating accident where she almost drowns (she plays "chicken" with a evil woman, and wins). Note: Dimidov and Cecilia hooking up, is not a given but after he throws away a piece of the metal he wanted, you can guess he will give up his lifestyle for her (particularly after he saved her life). Basically it is not worth your time, except to see Bean (for a change), survive and probably get the girl. 3 of 10 Stars.

It's more than incredible what a waste of talent this movie is. If you look at the cast, you'd be excused expecting something better. Even if only in B-movie terms. It actually does just give you enough, for you to not get completely angry and annoyed by its lack of commitment or lack of anything substantial.I'm not sure when it happened, but Christian Slaters fall from Grace is something we've all seen by now. He also must have a house somewhere in eastern Europe, if you consider how many movies he's shooting over there/here. I do wonder what the excuse for the other guys was though? Some needed money I guess and the script might have sounded cooler than the finished product turned out.

I really expected something just dreadful from the hating reviews here, but I have a soft spot for Christian Slater and Sean Bean. So, I took the plunge, despite the ample warnings.The story is indeed somewhat predictable and uneven, and really just sophomoric. Nevertheless, it's still a good ride, and the acting from most of the cast is pretty good. Slater, Bean, and Cromwell are all committed, as well as most the lesser known lead actors. Rhames is always ridiculous, so it's difficult to fault this film for his typically unconvincing, smirking performance. Meaney just played his usual typecast baddie. Some of the lesser characters were played by what feels like friends and family of the producers, so maybe that's where they got some breaks on their budget. Good for them! I was actually impressed what they did for only $8 million, considering the big names involved. They managed to get some great actors to carry this through, and it was worth it and hopefully didn't tarnish their precarious careers. It can't be easy in the movie business, so I condemn them not. I didn't find the special effects and stunts to be the shambles suggested from the other reviews, and found them adequate to the task. Yeah... I'd like to see someone do something as passable with their iPhone app, as one reviewer quipped. That's just mean and ignorant.All in all, an action movie that I didn't regret watching, but probably wouldn't watch again. Oh, well.