Prepared to get “Boone’d” in this fun action wild ride written by and starring professional wrestler John Hennigan, aka Lucha Underground’s Johnny Mundo.
Reality TV star Boone the Bounty Hunter is known for hunting down celebrities. However, the ratings have gone down and his producer Olivia breaks the sad news to the star that his show has been cancelled. To boost the show’s prospects, Boone decides to take on a real case. Contacting an old friend who works for the Drug Enforcement Agency, Boone gets a case that he may think will relatively easy, but he soon learns that it will not be as easy.
Spoiled brat Ryan Davenport is the son of notorious drug dealer Cole Davenport. After he is wanted for the drug overdose murder of a young woman, he is forced by his father to flee to Mexico. Boone and two members of his team, Denny and Kat, head off to the small city of Vallecitos. When Boone successfully captures Ryan, Kat and Denny find themselves arrested by dirty cops working for Davenport. Boone soon realizes that it is no longer about the show, but caring about the people of the small city, who have been terrorized by the drug lord for years.
Professional wrestler John Hennigan created the titular character and co-produced in addition to starring in the film. When it comes to technical moves, Hennigan is perhaps one of the greatest with his skill set, which meshes martial arts, gymnastics, and parkour. Hennigan has had his share of action roles such as Hercules Reborn and Sinbad and the War of the Furies, which were given not too great ratings amongst film fans. Yet, with his roles as Winter Soldier and Casey Jones in two episodes of the web series Super Hero Beat Down, Hennigan truly had potential and with this film, he truly proves that he can hold his own as his own character, a redemption seeking reality TV star with one-liners who learns the true meaning of justice when he tackles a real case.
Boone’s team consists of Spencer Grammer as Kat, who can hold her own when necessary in the action department; Osric Chau as Denny, the technical expert of the team, and in an extended cameo, MMA legend Quentin “Rampage” Jackson as Jackson. While Jackson takes a back seat, being only used in a true emergency as seen in the third act, Chau and Grammer truly prove themselves to be worthy despite Boone’s original objective to make sure his show gets renewed.
Richard Tyson, known for playing villain characters, continues the trend quite well as drug lord Cole Davenport. He is mostly a mastermind until the final act while former child star Jonathan Lipnicki plays his spoiled rich son, who is forced to go fugitive. Skilled in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, his attempt to stop Boone in a comic relief scene forces the bounty hunter to make fun of him and pull off a wrestling move before the kid is forced into a port-a-potty, where he spends most of the film. Lorenzo Lamas makes for a worthy appearance as a bartender whose scar causes him to not want to fight until he realizes that there could be a chance when Boone decides to go into action to save a young boy he met upon entering Davenport’s town.
The action portion is quite a fun watch, but could do with some better editing in certain pieces. Aside from Hennigan showcasing his pretty awesome parkour skills, he finds himself on the receiving end of not one, but two two-on-one encounters with a pair of brothers working for Davenport. The brothers are played by martial artists and actors Lateef Crowder and T.J. Storm. There is also a nice bar fight in the film where Hennigan gets to mesh some grappling moves with some pretty decent kicks, including a nice taekwondo style kick off the wall. Most of the action is good but could use a little better editing in certain pieces.
Boone the Bounty Hunter is a fun wild action ride highlighted by the performance by John Hennigan as the titular character and the ensemble supporting cast. This is one reviewer who would gladly be “Boone’d” again.
WFG RATING: B
A Hoplite Entertainment/Killion Street Production. Director: Richard Kirbyson. Producers: Brady Romberg and Jonathan Lee Smith. Writers: John Hennigan, Josh Burnell, Franco Movsesian, and Jonathan Perkins. Cinematography: Jeffrey R. Clark. Editing: Ashlee Brookens and Mark David Spencer.
Cast: John Hennigan, Osric Chau, Spencer Grammer, Jonathan Lipnicki, Richard Tyson, Jane Park Smith, Lesley Fera, Quentin “Rampage” Jackson, Lorenzo Lamas, Juan Gabriel Pareja, Dominique Swain, Max Weideman, Lateef Crowder, T.J. Storm.
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