12 Rounds

Routine action adventure in which a vicious thief (Aidan Gillen), sprung from prison and out for revenge on the New Orleans police officer (John Cena) who arrested him and accidentally caused the death of his moll, kidnaps the cop's live-in girlfriend (Ashley Scott) and sets him a dozen hair-raising tasks as ransom. Director Renny Harlin's film offers little more than rapid-fire mayhem and a few suspenseful situations. Considerable action violence, premarital cohabitation, much crude and crass language, and a few sexual references and profanities. A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2009

12 Rounds (Full Review)

 In"12 Rounds" (Fox Atomic), a routine action adventure, a dozen hair-raising tasks -- intended, presumably, to recall the heroic labors of Hercules in Greek mythology -- are imposed on dedicated New Orleans police officer Danny Fisher (professional wrestler John Cena) by escaped convict Miles (Aidan Gillen), a vicious thief.

Miles is out for revenge because, in the course of arresting him, Danny accidentally caused the death of the former's moll, Erica. So he bombs Danny's house and kidnaps his live-in girlfriend, Molly (Ashley Scott), en route to the hospital where she works as a helicopter pilot. In lieu of ransom, Miles demands that Danny perform a series of feats such as stopping a runaway trolley whose brakes Miles has sabotaged.

In his fervent desire to keep Molly alive, Danny eschews all caution, at one point driving a fire truck full speed through a crowded outdoor cafe, sending its patrons scrambling for cover. He's assisted by his partner Hank (Brian White), but initially hampered by the intervention of FBI special agents Aiken (Steve Harris) and Santiago (Gonzalo Menendez), who have their own agenda.

Throughout all the sweat and strain, Cena's presence registers as merely stolid, as opposed to Gillen's more charismatic baddie.

The central romance is portrayed as a committed one, despite the fact they've yet to tie the knot. Overall, director Renny Harlin offers little more than rapid-fire mayhem and a few suspenseful situations.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.