12 Rounds is a 2009 action film directed by Renny Harlin and produced by WWE Studios. It is John Cena's second film, his first being The Marine. The cast is led by Professional wrestler John Cena, alongside Steve Harris, Gonzalo Menendez, Aidan Gillen, Brian J. White, Ashley Scott, and Taylor Cole. The film was released on March 27, 2009 in theaters.
Plot[]
The film opens in an FBI operation to catch a nearly untraceable, internationally known terrorist, named Miles Jackson (Aidan Gillen). New Orleans Police Officer Danny Fisher (John Cena) and his partner bump into the getaway car of Jackson and his Fiancée (Taylor Cole). After Danny chases the car on foot, he manages to stop them. Jackson's girlfriend is, however, killed, when she is struck down by a truck after trying to make a run for it. A year later, and Danny and his partner have been promoted to detectives. Jackson has escaped prison and planned his revenge on Fisher in a game he calls "12 Rounds". He kidnaps Fisher's girlfriend Molly Porter (Ashley Scott) and forces him into a series of dangerous games, carefully plotted throughout the streets of New Orleans. Fisher struggles to keep focus while the obvious ticking clocks and crude consequences that accompany each one of the "rounds" do their best to derail him from rescuing the love of his life before it's too late.
Cast[]
- John Cena filming on the set of 12 Rounds.John Cena as Detective Danny Fisher
- Ashley Scott as Molly Porter
- Aidan Gillen as Miles Jackson
- Brian J. White as Det. Hank Carver
- Taylor Cole as Erica Kessen
- Vincent Flood as Det. Chuck Jansen
- Steve Harris as Special Agent George Aiken
- Gonzalo Menendez as Special Agent Ray Santiago
Music[]
The score of 12 Rounds was composed by Trevor Rabin, who had previously worked with director Renny Harlin on Deep Blue Sea and Exorcist: The Beginning. He recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros. Studios.
Reception[]
The filmed opened at number seven at the box office. Gaining an estimate of $1.75 million in its opening day and $5.3 million in its opening weekend and a further $2,498,325 in other countries taking its worldwide total to $17,037,910.
12 Rounds has received generally negative reviews from critics. Some critics have noted the film's similarities to the 1995 movie Die Hard with a Vengeance. The film ranking website Rotten Tomatoes reported that only 30% of critics had given the film positive reviews, based upon a sample of 61. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 37, based on 11 reviews.
Home video[]
12 Rounds was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and UMD with an unrated "Extreme Cut" of the film on June 30, 2009. In the first week, 12 Rounds opened at #1 at the DVD sales chart, selling 208,936 DVD units translating to revenue of $3.1m. As of December 2009, 487,000 DVD units have been sold, bringing in $7.6m in revenue. This does not include Blu-ray sales/DVD rentals.
The DVD is a one-disc set that includes:
- Rated and extended “Extreme Cut” of the film
- Commentary by Director Renny Harlin, Writer Daniel Kunka and John Cena
- Two alternate endings
- “Crash Course: John Cena Stunts” featurette
- “Never-before-seen Cena gag reel” featurette
Soundtrack[]
- "Real Good Girl" - Jim Johnston
- "Sexual" - Jim Johnston
- "Danny Boy" - Frederick Edward Weatherly
- "Feel You"- Jonas Genberg
Images[]
