Source: Region 1 DVD (Sony Pictures)
Run time: 01:33:03
Country: USA
A bible-toting biker comes to the rescue of Native Americans who are being victimized by a group of criminals.
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MISSIONARY MAN is amongst the Dolph Lundgren vehicles that have been pumped out since the mid-00's in which he both stars and directs. Here he plays Ryder - a quiet bible-toting biker with a fondness for tequila. Ryder arrives at a small Native American community to mourn the suspicious death of an old friend, only to bear witness to the locals - specifically the surviving family of his departed friend - being victimized by a group of criminals who seem to be above the law. Before he even makes it to the funeral, Dolph's character is beating up a group of people, who are soon established as the lead villain's henchmen, when he comes across them kicking the snot out of a junkie. This of course ruffles the feathers of their boss, Reno (Matthew Tompkins), and, well... you should know how the rest goes.
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I suppose the motive of the antagonists should be mentioned so that this review at least gives the film something resembling depth as opposed to it coming across as Dolph killing a bunch of people for seemingly no reason. The death of Ryder's friend - before it's even established as such - is obviously tied to the lead villain and his henchmen; obvious because it's a convention that's been used in numerous Action films before it. The shady dealings involving the bad guys and the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Rdyer's friend begin to surface during a Council meeting in which plans to build a proposed Casino on the reservation are shut down in favor of a smaller venture that would still supply the locals with the same amount of employment opportunities. The "smaller venture" was something proposed by the friend of Dolph's character before he passed, and when Reno and his henchmen are visibly upset by the plans of a Casino being halted, their motive for running amok on the locals becomes pretty clear. There's a lot more to it that I'm leaving out for the sake of not spelling out the entire movie for everyone, but that's the gist of it.
For the most part, Dolph's character minds his own business and sticks to becoming acquainted with the family of his late friend. However, when they eventually become a target of Reno and his crew of cowboys, he comes to their defense and and unleashes HELL in the process... or something.
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MISSIONARY MAN is disappointing in so many ways, not just as an Action film but as a Dolph film. Not that it will come as a shock to people familiar with Dolph's films, but his character here lacks charisma and is quite boring (one could blame it on Lundgren, but I'll blame it on the character with hopes that he won't read this and track me down). The villain, while villainous, isn't really established enough to make him seem like anything more than fodder; it's almost as if he's on the same level as his henchmen, except with more lines of dialogue. The only standout character, in my opinion, is the leader of a biker gang (John Enos III) that doesn't even show up until the final third of the movie.
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Score: 5
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