Geo-political considerations aside there is little doubt that the opening up of Eastern Europe has provided filmmakers with a whole new set of attractive - and relatively cheap - movie locations. Sadly, as this Dolph Lundgren vehicle amply demonstrates, exotic ex-Communist backdrops do not necessarily a good film make.
Lundgren stars as US Federal Marshal Michael Danes who, following the assassination of the Cuban Ambassador in New York, is sent off to Prague on the trail of suspected killer Maruschka Detmers. Once in Prague the Dolphster teams up with his CIA operative stepdad (Ashton), who explains away Lundgren's accent (he escaped from Prague during the 1968 uprising) with a panache that would make Van Damme blush. Predictably, Detmers turns out to both innocent and something of a babe, so it isn't long before all concerned are being pursued through some picturesque backgrounds by groups of spooks, psychos and, quite possibly, nice old Tom Cobbley as well.
To be fair, the result has its attractions. There is the odd nice line ("You know the only time self-doubt is useful? When you're starring in fucking Hamlet!") and even Dolph appears to have learnt a few more acting tricks. Unfortunately, for an action movie this doesn't actually feature much in the way of action. Back when Kotchoff directed First Blood, the odd bit of knife and gunplay was all that was needed to keep people's faces out of their popcorn buckets. After ten years of Lethal Weapons and Die Hards, however, the odd bit of double-fisted gunplay just doesn't cut the mustard.
