Healthcare
workers are not so different from commandos. Neither can afford to get squeamish
at the sight of blood. You do not have to worry about that with Alex. No siree.
The former elite Special Forces recon veteran is now giving palliative care to a
dying rich lady, but her skills have not atrophied. A trio of villains will learn
that the hard way in Jared Bentley’s Intensive
Care (trailer
here),
which is now available on VOD.
If
it were up to her former commander, Alex would still be part of his unit, but
she had to leave after some really bad things went down during a mission in the
Philippines (sounds like the stuff of a possible prequel). Wanting a quiet
life, Alex mostly gets it with the terminal but still spirited Claire. Unfortunately,
things will soon change when the elderly lady informs her deadbeat grandson
Danny he has been disinherited. He takes the news rather badly, but he still
keeps to his best behavior around Alex.
As
a result, he will be able to distract her with an unlikely date while his two
meathead accomplices try to plunder Claire’s cash. The problem is Grandma’s
safe is way harder to crack than they anticipated and Danny is not nearly as
distracting as he thinks he is. Before long, Alex is making like John McClane
in Die Hard.
Basically,
Intensive Care is exactly what you
think it is, if not slightly less. Seriously, Alex versus three bad guys—really
more like two and a half—is some pretty small ball. However, the important
thing about the film is that it makes us total believers in its lead, stunt
performer Tara Macken in her first starring role. She has done stunt work on
dozens of Marvel productions and Wolf Warrior 2, so she obviously has the action chops, but she also has the presence to
carry a feature film. Her turn as Alex suggests she could be a legit action
star, bigger than Zoe Bell and maybe even bigger than Gina Carano (both of whom
we also like just fine).
So
yes, Intensive Care is about as straight
forward as a movie can get. Still, Bentley deserves credit the way he clearly stages
and films the fight scenes, so that we can easily follow the action (that is
actualy higher praise than it might sound). It probably will not go down in
cinema history as a film of towering importance in its own right (a little
understatement for you), but it is enjoyable in a meathead kind of way and it
just might be remembered as the film that started something for Macken. We certainly
want to see her starring in more complex films, but still kicking butt. Recommended
for fans of action B-movies, Intensive
Care is now available on VOD.
