Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe starring Bruce Campbell, originally premiered Sunday, April 17 on USA Network. The prequel film to USA’s smash hit series Burn Notice, takes place in Colombia 2005 when Lieutenant Commander Sam Axe (Campbell) is sent to advise a local military platoon. It’s there he discovers deep layers of deception and ultimately realizes he may be allied with the wrong side. Shot on location in Bogota, Colombia, the two hour movie was directed by Burn Notice star Jeffrey Donovan who also has a cameo in the film.
“I did two things to prepare for
this role: Jack and Shit. I figured since it was a prequel, I just
needed darker hair and less weight.”
Film (4 out of 5 stars)
As a huge Bruce Campbell fan, I’ve seen just about everything he’s done and he was the main reason that I started watching Burn Notice
and without a doubt, he’s the best thing about that show even though he
isn’t given much to do. When I heard that he was going to have the
starring role in a television movie based on his character from the
show, I knew I had to get my hands on that. This is all Bruce all the
time as it should be. There is a cameo from Jeffrey Donovan from Burn Notice who also directed the movie, but that’s about as much influence there is from the show.
In Burn Notice, Sam Axe has already left
the military but the circumstances under which he did so have always
been a little mysterious. With this movie, it all becomes clear as we
see him still on active duty and the choices he makes that result in him
being discharged and arriving in Miami which leads directly into the
show. The movie was filmed in Columbia so the scenes shot on location
make this look a lot better than a lot of of television movies that film
on a studio back-lot.
At the start of the movie (and two years
before the start of the show), Sam has crossed the wrong Admiral by
sleeping with the man’s wife, so he’s subsequently sent on a mission to
Columbia as punishment. The admiral is so pissed that he doesn’t even
equip Sam well and even makes him wear blue and gray camouflage fatigues
which only make Sam stand out even more in the lush green jungle.
Sam’s mission is called Operation: Provide Support and he’s there to
track down a terrorist group known as the Espada Ardiente. Sam’s
contact is Comandante Veracruz (Pedro Pascal) who gives Sam a tour of
the local area including a clinic that is in the middle of a war zone.
Sam tries to convince the two clinic workers Ben Delaney (RonReaco Lee)
and Amanda Maples (Kiele Sanchez) to leave but they refuse.
Sam soon learns that things aren’t what
they seem and he finds himself on the side of the group that he was
supposed to be stopping. The clinic comes under attack and Sam finally
convinces everyone to escape before the clinic is destroyed. With the
help of Ben, Amanda, a young native girl named Beatriz (Ilza Rosario),
and a group of old goat-herders, Sam takes on a an enemy that is better
equipped, has more personnel, and is armed to the teeth. Of course Sam
being Sam, does have a knack for getting in and out of tough situations.
I’m always happy to see a movie with
Bruce Campbell in it and he elevates this movie quite a bit. The plot
isn’t anything special, but the script itself is decent with plenty of
one-lines for Bruce to say in his inimitable fashion. Jeffrey Donovan
seems to be a big fan of Campbell’s work too since he has him not only
wield a chainsaw, but he also gets him to say “groovy” despite
Campbell’s reluctance to do so. Bruce did draw the line at saying a
line about an “army of darkness” though! The rest of the cast are good
in their roles and it was good to see RonReaco Lee get some work after
being in the unappreciated show The Good Guys which was also
created by Matt Nix. This movie has a lot of adventure, humor, and
Bruce Campbell (which is all you really need), so if you are a fan you
will enjoy it even if you’ve never seen Burn Notice.
Video (4 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Despite being a made for TV movie, this
1080p (1.78:1) transfer looks great and a lot better than its original
broadcast. Colors are vivid and this has a nice sharp picture that is
so good that you can see detailed textures from the clothing. This
transfer manages to capture the atmospheric surroundings well especially
during the tropical jungle scenes. Black levels are as dark as they
should be but the flesh tones tend to be a little warm at times. Aside
from that minor complaint, this is a very nice transfer that looks a lot
better than the previous releases of Burn Notice.
Audio (4 out of 5 stars)
Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe’s
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is an above average affair that serves the
movie well enough but could have been better. Dialogue is clear enough
through the front channels and there’s some slight ambiance that’s
spread across the rest of the channels but it could have used a little
more juice. Explosions and gunfire sound good but they don’t pack as
much of a punch as I would have liked. All in all, this is a good mix
with a decent but not very memorable score.
Special Features (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Not an extensive amount of extras but what’s here is pretty good especially the commentary.
- Audio Commentary by Bruce Campbell, Jeffrey Donovan, and Matt Nix: Any commentary with Bruce Campbell is a good one and adding in Nix and Donovan just makes it even better since they all love to make fun of each others “limitations.” It was also funny to hear how much Donovan kept trying to sneak in Army of Darkness references into the movie which Campbell resisted since he was worried that everyone would think it was his idea. This is a fun and informative commentary and I really liked it.
- The Fall of Jeffrey Donovan - A short making of featurette disguised as a mockumentary about Jeffrey Donovan’s supposed mental breakdown. There’s some funny bits in here but it went on too long.
- Deleted Scenes – These
are more snippets than deleted scenes and aren’t really worth watching
since they added nothing to the movie and were wisely cut.
- Burn Notice at Comic-Con 2010 – A very nice extra of last year’s Comic-Con with Chris Vance, Tim Matheson, Matt Nix, Alfredo Barrios, and Bruce Campbell who completely ruled the panel as expected. I wish they could have included this year’s panel for this movie.
Final Thoughts (4 out of 5 stars)
This is a no-brainer for me since I will
buy anything that contains adventure, humor, and Bruce Campbell. I
thought I was going to get to interview him for this release but I just
found out that he’s too busy filming Burn Notice so I will just have to cheer myself up by watching some Army of Darkness. This is a solid movie that’s fun and doesn’t require any knowledge at all of Burn Notice.
If you’re a fan of Mr. Campbell (and who isn’t), then you should pick
up your boomstick and run out and buy this movie! Shop smart…shop
S-Mart!
Order your copy today!
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