IN A NUTSHELL:
If the title has you wondering, here's the scoop: VA-33 is the name of a Veteran's Administration hospital. The movie claims to be Die Hard on steroids. Not quite...more like a Die Hard wannabe. It's a cheesy action flick on a low budget, but it's still fairly entertaining and is directed by Christopher Ray and written by Scot Thomas Reynolds.
The studio's summary is: Decorated veteran and PTSD sufferer, Jason Hill (Flanery) meets his wife, Jennifer, for lunch at the Veteran's Affairs hospital where she works. After Jennifer is called away for an emergency consultation with the head of the U.S. Military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the hospital is taken hostage by heavily armed terrorists. Jason becomes the last line of defense and must battle the terrorists and his own PTSD-induced demons to save his wife, the General, the hospital's staff, and patients.
THINGS I LIKED:
I like Sean Patrick Flanery. He has been working hard and pumping out several movies. I recently reviewed a movie he did called BORN A CHAMPION.
In that movie, he really gets a chance to flex his fighting muscles and show off his skills as a real-life Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
The rest of the cast includes some familiar faces that include Michael Jai White, Mark Dacascos, Max Adler, and even pro-wrestler Rob Van Dam.
The movie takes place in Buffalo, New York
The most entertaining action sequence BY FAR is when Sean Patrick Flanery, who is a trained martial artist, exchanges blows and funny quips with Mark Dacascos.
I haven't seen Max Adler in anything for a while, so it was fun to see him in this.
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:
There are quite a few bad acting moments.
Some of the action sequences are so bad that you just might laugh out loud.
Why bother having a pro-wrestler in your movie (Rob Van Dam) and make his character just sit in a van during the entire movie? He could have been used for some interesting action sequences. To that point, Michael Jai White also has an impressive Black Belt pedigree and could have been better utilized with his fighting skills.
There is a lot of bouncing forward and backward on a timeline that might be confusing for some viewers.
The daughter is an unlikeable, whiny teen. In order to really care about the characters, it would have been helpful to spend more time getting to know them better in Act 1.
The movie looks cheap.
There's a bad girl with fake eyelashes and low-cut pants to show her abs. Super realistic, right?
Lots of scenes with people on telephones.
Unlike Die Hard, there really isn't any humor to balance out the action and drama. The humor that does exist doesn't really land well. The most entertaining character was played by Richard Gabai.
There are some big plot holes in the story with very bad dialogue.
PLEASE tell me that the police and FBI aren't that apathetic and lazy.
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
Profanity and F-bombs
You see a bloodied man get tortured. Another man is missing an arm.
A LOT of violence with blood splatters and blood pools. Bleh.
Guns, knives
People die, often by close-range headshots
You can see the rest of my review on my Movie Review Mom YouTube channel!
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