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SYNOPSIS: After witnessing the brutal murder of his parents as a young boy, Chance Templeton (Rick Yune, The Fast and the Furious, Die Another Day) is taken in by a ruthless killer (Keith David, Dirty, Crash) and raised to follow in his footsteps. An assassin's trade is solitary by nature, but Chance shares a tight bond with his adopted brother, Miles (Bokeem Woodbine - TV's "Saving Grace," Ray), who's elected a more honorable path working as a bodyguard for a sultry pop star (Dania Ramirez, TV's "Heroes").
When Chance is contracted to gun down his brother's client, he realizes there is finally a line he cannot cross. Uniting with his brother to stave off an expected hit, Chance finds himself targeted by the elite members of his own profession as he struggles to protect a woman who stubbornly rejects his services. Set against the steamy backdrop of Bangkok, this action thriller is bursting with some of the meanest stunts and fight scenes. This is high-octane action at it's best.
MOVIE
REVIEW
Rick Yune is best known as the villain in
Die Another Day and the original Fast and Furious. Since then,
with the occasional bit parts in drama series, the actor who
is of Korean descent has faded from the big screen.
But then there’s always a lucrative
outlet in Hollywood called the direct-to-DVD market to cater
for which is populated with ex-superstars such as Steven Seagal,
Wesley Snipes and Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. and
here it is, a Rick Yune’s starrer entitled The Fifth
Commandment.
Yune wrote, produced and starred in this
movie as a boy, Chance who is brought up by a killer dubbed
the Jazzman (Keith David) after his parents is murdered by
a ruthless, sadistic killer Z (Roger Yuan). Chance follows
the footsteps of Jazzman to become a renowned killer for hire
while his adopted brother Miles (Bokeem Woodbine) chose to
become a soldier and later on, a bodyguard. The two brothers
finally cross path in Bangkok when Miles is assigned to protect
a prima donna pop singer, Angel (Dania Ramirez) while Chance
is hired to kill her.
The plot written by first-timer Yune is a
typical good versus bad action flick. Though you can see Yune
trying hard to beef up the various relationships in between
yet the various characterizations remain wafer thin and some
wooden dialogues that will make you cringe. For example you
barely see Chance and Miles together onscreen and the next
minute you know, the boys have grown and separated for good
by their adopted father and amazingly they have such a deep
relationship between them.
Fortunately, aided by capable actors like
Keith David and Roger Yuan, the acting on the whole at least
delivers the goods compiled by some decent action choreography
by stunt coordinator Garrett Warren and director Jesse Johnson,
both veterans in the field of stuntwork whom have worked on
A-list productions such as M:I:3 and Terminator 3. There are
some nasty hand-to-hand combat sequences; one that took place
in the rain and the other, the finale fight between Chance
and Z to take note of.
The Fifth Commandment I can say is among
the best of the direct-to-DVD releases, this is an entertaining
action flick to kill a lazy evening and fare so much better
than the average Seagal and Snipes’ starring vehicles.
With the exception of the tacky DVD cover, this title actually
marks a promising start to Rick Yune’s career in the
direct-to-DVD arena.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Creating The Fifth Commandment Featurette
- This is a 18 minutes long interview session with Rick Yune
and it proves that he can be quite an engaging speaker as
he talks about anything from scribing the plot to the difficulties
he faced during filming to funding issues etc. Pity there
isn’t a full commentary track from Yune.
The
Stunts of The Fifth Commandment Featurette –
Director Jesse Johnson and Stunt Coordinator Garrett Warren
discussed the various action pieces in this 25 minutes featurette.
Among the stuff the duo talks about, one particularly interesting
trivial which Johnson reveals is his preference on filming
stunts the old-fashioned manner rather than CG and he cite
the third Indiana Jones as an example.
The
Code 3 DVD rounds up with trailers for The
Art of War 3, Blood: The Last Vampire, District 9, Moon, The Informers and many others.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
visual looks good overall and the Dolby Digital mix really
enhanced the sounds of car crash and sequences which frequently
involve the use of firearms and explosions.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
Posted on 20 August 2009
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