12 Rounds



You would think that with a professional wrestler as the star, this film would be all action and no plot. But you would be wrong. John Cena plays New Orleans cop Danny Fisher who must save his fiancée who has been kidnapped by a thief planning to carry out his biggest heist yet.

The film is packed with action scenes, as well as some touching moments and Cena’s acting is amazingly good for someone who hasn’t had a lot of formal training. To save his girlfriend, Cena must perform a complex set of tasks, as well as solve some pretty knotty puzzles, or else his fiancée will die at the hands of her kidnapper. A particularly heart-stopping moment in the film is when the thief’s own girlfriend is accidentally killed, giving him a thirst for revenge that would seem to mark the end for both Cena and his fiancée.

This movie is somewhat along the lines of the Die Hard series, but not quite. It contains some touching scenes, with dialogue used to fill in the blanks where the action leaves the viewer shaking his head in confusion. There are even a few comedic moments interspersed amongst the liberal action scenes.

This is a good first film for John Cena. When I first heard that this film starred a former wrestler, I wasn’t particularly impressed. I figured it would be more bluster and brawn than anything else, with very little in the way of serious acting. Boy was I wrong. Surprisingly, Cena uses this film as a rather handy vehicle to make his mark as a serious actor … and it works.

Was this post helpful?