Cross Mission (1988)

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

General Romero (Poli) is the iron-fisted leader of a small South American country. He appears to be working with the U.N. in trying to expel the drug trade that's going on in his backyard, but, as you might expect, the U.N. are a bunch of dupes, and Romero is actively involved with the narco-trafficking. When a Marine named William (Randall) comes from the U.S. and attempts to investigate, things quickly take a turn for the worst. Teaming up with the stereotypical female reporter, this time in the form of Helen (Porsche), our two heroes soon find themselves caught in the CROSS MISSION - with all the shooting, exploding huts, and jungle-based madness you might expect. But Romero has an ace in the hole. Read on to find out more...Cross Mission, for the most part, is your standard exploding hutter, but because it's Italian-made (this time by Alfonso Brescia, using his usual anglicized name, Al Bradley), it's, at minimum, watchable, with quality shooting and explosions and is good technically. It's an El Presidente...well, not slog, per se, but maybe because they call Romero "El Predestinato", we can call this the first El Predestinato slog. But here's the difference. General Romero has magic powers that consist of being able to summon a diabolical midget named Astaroth (De La Rosa) at will. They also can shoot blue lightning at people. Voodoo is mentioned as the source of Romero's powers. You don't see that everyday. This might be the first time I've ever written in my notes "macumba consists of summoning magic midgets". For that reason alone, Cross Mission is worth watching at least once.That craziness aside, Cross Mission hits all the typical notes you might expect if you watch a lot of jungle slogs: destroyed villages, female reporter, Prerequsite Torture, shooting, blow-ups, jungle setting. Though the fact that it makes the U.N. look like the fools they are gains it some extra points. Richard Randall puts on the time-honored "revenge outfit" towards the end to show he really means business. There is a silly park fight, as well as an exploding helicopter, but, except for the supernatural twist, this is jungle business as usual.Sadly, this was the only film appearance for Brigitte Porsche, and the only theatrical feature for Richard Randall. They both could have done more in the Italian film industry. What happened to them? How did they get involved with Cross Mission? As lovely as they both were, it could have used one of the usual stars that always turn up in movies like this, perhaps an Oliver Reed, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasance, or Richard Harris. But we do get Nelson De La Rosa, and, as supernaturally evil as he is, the way he's finally dealt with is quite novel.Brescia followed this up with the Richard Roundtree/Harrison Muller Jr. team-up Miami Cops (1989), for those keeping track. At least Brescia tried something different here. It didn't totally succeed, but we give him points for trying to inject a modicum of originality in what could be a rather staid playing field. The utterly crazy Romero sub-plot should have been expanded upon - but on the whole we'd say Cross Mission is a more than decent one-time watch, thanks solely to the nuttier elements at work.

Corrupt General Romero (robustly played to the eminently hissable hilt by Maurice Poli) runs his small Latin American country with an iron fist while profiting from the illegal drug trade. Crusading photojournalist Helen (foxy brunette Brigitte Porsche) convinces Romero's right-hand man William (mighty macho meatball William Randall) to change his ways and assist a scrappy guerrilla army in taking Romero down.Director Alfonso Brescia keeps the enjoyably inane story hurtling along at a brisk pace and loads the picture with lots of lively fights, energetic shoot-outs, and plenty of stuff blowing up real good. Donald Russo's blithely ridiculous kitchen sink script even tosses in an absurd subplot about a freaky magical midget (super tiny Nelson de la Rosa of "Rat Man" infamy) who fires lasers from his fingers (!) for extra campy measure. The expected cruddy dubbing delivers a wealth of unintentional belly laughs. The bouncy score by Stelvio Cipriani and Carlo Maria Cordio keeps things hopping along throughout. A real tacky riot.

Everything you need to know about this movie shows up in the first two minutes - explosions, martial arts, big guns, helicopters, and did I see this right - a midget firing electrical sparks from his fingertips! I wish I were as eloquent as Squonkamatic who posted a superb review of the picture on this board. If you want the real lowdown, just shoot over and read his review because he's put a considerable amount of time and effort into this genre of film-making. For my part, it's a chore just to sit through stuff like this but I do it for my craft - writing reviews of everything I watch even when it causes great pain. Honestly, I can't think of a single thing to recommend this flick, and as I sit here contemplating the Italian translation of the title, I do believe it's message is right there before my very eyes.

The uninspiring story of a Latin American General who has a firm grip on his country. He is involved in drug trafficking while he poses as a positive influence in the United Nations. A young woman journalist goes down there at great risk. There's lots of driving around in the jungles, many armed mercenaries. Very formidable forces working away to protect the drug trade. She works the General's associate in an effort to institute change. It's all so random and unbelievable. These are nasty guys. There should have been no infiltration at all. Too many narrow escapes and carelessness on the parts of these evil people to make it palatable. There are so many movies like this where much of the time spent with cars storming around, people firing automatic weapons, and the plot going nowhere. They don't get much more forgettable.