
To begin with, it’s important that in this review we say right away that anyone who watches the promo material and the trailer of a film like Agent Recon, which is directed and acted by Derek Ting, knows what to expect, Assume the promotional material is helpful. If lower budget, low quality B level indie action is not your thing, this one won’t either. Not by a long shot. But those who adapt to such kinds of movies for whatever reason or the other will thankfully have a little bit of fun with this film as well. And it’s good that for the third part of his alien invasion science fiction saga, the director Derek Ting has not one, but two real action stars who join his project, Marc Singer and again Chuck Norris.
Above all, he permits each living legend the opportunity to showcase a piece of the golden action movie times of the 80s and 90’s which made me happy especially when in the film’s finale Norris, now 84 years old is shown editing a horde of enemy forces with guns and fists as he once did in his prime because that made him an action movie star and the reason I fell in love with the genre starting from my first viewing of Lone Wolf McQuade.
At this stage, we should advance to the last part of the process which is called Agent Recon, and once more we have Ting behind the camera and starring as well. This time he is reprising the role of Jim Yung, an average man, in the first movie, and shortly after being exposed to some nasty alien dust he becomes a killing machine. In case you haven’t watched the first two movies, that’s ok because this one can stand on its own as Ting makes it the first one of many parts explaining the storyline of the movie prior to this film. A lot of people are wondering whether there are aliens or not yeah there are, and similar to the movie that starred Singer, alien creatures are invading and slowly conquering one human at a time. The aliens employ a particular red powder that infests a human body and converts that person into a fiendish and fearsome ET.
The only problem for the aliens is that, instead of the dust controlling Jim, it ends up transforming the average Joe into an absolute beast, a human wrecking machine who turns into Bruce Lee with insane and savage skills. Man, this is what I want to become, but sadly I would end up being another mindless robot like everyone else. Oh well, moving on.
Cut to the present day and Agent Recon and now we have Colonel Green (Singer) who has been through the wringer after battling this alien infestation and he and his special forces are now called for duty to locate some soldiers who have disappeared at a distant military post. To make it more interesting SPOILER ALERT we get to know later that one of the soldiers is none other than his daughter, Captain Lila Rupert (Nikki Leigh). Determined to bring back his daughter as well as others, Green doesn’t really want to take Jim with him but because of the presence of aliens in him, he doesn’t trust Yung. Oh yes, Green’s men wouldn’t trust him either so there is that.
Hearing the news Jim turns to Alastair Green’s mentor, who used to be a human but in the 2nd part of the film is portrayed as an AI cyborg owing to his death in the last one. Alastair doesn’t stay in that form he transfers his conscience into the robotic being that Norris now embodies, and they assist the team in their goals throughout the film. I enjoyed myself as I’ve never seen Norris playing a character quite like this, so it was simply a rare treat to see him act again.
After rest, when Green Yung and the men reach the outpost, they are surrounded by aliens with ET as the most powerful among them. While under such grave threats, they should strive to use every single talent and weapon they have, so the world does not hang on thin strings any longer. Just picture a scenario where an 80s action movie voiceover speaks the phrases which are above and you will be on cloud nine.
Now let there be no doubt, and Ting knows this it’s all about Singer and Norris here, and I’m glad to say that Ting employs both stars with Singer getting most of the action for the first two or thirds of the film with Chuck doing Chuck things in the exciting finale. You might be shocked that Singer’s Green is the real star of the film while Yung is more passive in the themes of the movie. Green’s character progression is what sustains Agent Recon releasing and advancing through the narrow slower segments towards the end. This is easily Singer at his gravitas best and I was excited to see him use a bit of his iconic V character Mike Donovan as this role easily could’ve been Donovan in his elder years. There is also a great throwdown and easter egg to one of the lines from the classic sci fi mini series that made me laugh when Singer used his line.
In the last 20 minutes, Norris and Ting are seen in the alien gauntlet and I’m glad to say, YES Norris does what looks best for him. He’s 84 now so nobody should expect Forced Vengeance Chuck Norris but the man is still in good shape and is able to go free with the unarmed fight, which was choreographed by his son, Dakota Norris. And for the record, I had a great time watching Norris back doing what he does best and the only criticism I will have is that I was left wanting more. I will take what I can get though, and the fans will be able to rejoice with the results because our director god is now, at least one more the time, a one man army of fun DTV action. Sure I may be somewhat biased but as always, I couldn’t care less. I was pleased and my opinion is the only one which counts.
All the remaining fight choreography was taken care of by Nathan People who in fact doubles for the us elite alien alpha, and here People does know a thing or two about creating combat action designs with military and natural aspects. You can easily follow the action and the shot this way is quite complex yet blended with extreme and simpler fast hand movement, joint manipulation, and much more. Tings gets to show why these types of films are more suited for him and Singer, even though his action is mostly bang-bang type, still gets sufficient scope to remind the new generation as to why he was big in 80s.
Both Marc Singer and Chuck Norris were utilized as per expectation. Norris has a limited screen role but still, figures in the movie and the end is quality like it was twenty five years ago. From the mini gun to the Karate, Norris is the man who will entertain when the time comes for him to be unleashed to do Chuck Norris things and let him do just a little more for his fans before his career officially comes to an end. In the world of DTV action which most of these titles are drowned and forgotten, Agent Recon beats the odds and fulfills its purpose.
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