Agent Recon, Co-Starring Chuck Norris & Marc Singer

You might not read it in online descriptions, but this is the third film in a trilogy. It happens to be the first co-starring the legendary Chuck Norris in his first film since Expendables 2, so it is easy to understand why the marketing would play down the earlier films. In one way, the premise is pretty straightforward. The bad guys have a compound, so the good guys must break into it. In this case, the hero has augmented alien super-powers he harnesses thanks to the late scientist, whose downloaded consciousness will be installed into a rather grizzled-looking android. Viewers piece together the backstory as best they can, but nobody will have any trouble understanding the red-meat action in Derek Ting’s Agent Recon, which releases tomorrow on VOD.

Jim Yung is sort of like JCVD in Universal Soldier—or so I’m guessing. After getting dosed with some alien dust, he acquired superhuman powers. The government whisked him away to a secret base, where Alastair trained him so well (before his body was killed) that he is now a full-fledged super-soldier operative. Not surprisingly, he is called in when a shadowy AIM or HYDRA like group experimenting with alien dust kidnaps Captain Lila Rupert.

Initially, Colonel Green and his team (of two) are skeptical of Yung, but the officer eventually agrees it would be handy to have his abilities for the assault—making it a full four people against literally dozens. Apparently, there was some sort of outbreak, so to kill the “infected” they have to shoot for their livers. Yet, headshots seem to be more effective later—so if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, just use your best judgement.

Speaking of judgement calls, it is not immediately obvious why Ting’s script lured Norris away from his ranch and back to a film set. However, the necessarily stoic Alastair android certainly does not require much heavy lifting from an acting perspective. This film is certainly nothing special, but it is still a happy sight to see him wielding a heavy caliber machine gun, like Django or Jesse Ventura in Predator.

It is also nice to see Marc Singer (The Beastmaster and V) in the meatier role of Col. Green. Frankly, he comes out of Agent Recon looking the best and the certainly the most human. Obviously, Ting conceived of the franchise as a showcase for himself. He acquits himself satisfactorily during the action, but he underwhelms in character-developing scenes.

Maybe Agent Recon is fantastic if you have seen the first two films, but it is mostly rather middling for those coming in cold. However, it and the previous Agent Revelation could be the basis of potentially baffling trivia question: which character was played by Chuck Norris and Star Trek Next Gen’s Michael Dorn within the same series continuity? Of course, it’s Alastair. Not recommended, despite the welcomed casting of Norris and Singer, Agent Recon releases tomorrow on digital and on-demand.