Tagline: Dying is easy. Rock ‘n’ roll is hard.
Curiosity: Dolph Lundgren is a rock ‘n’ roll drummer that fights terrorists!
Plot: Dolph Lundgren is a rock ‘n’ roll drummer that fights terrorists!
Also there are some other people who do some other things. But mostly it’s about Joe (Lundgren) and his quest to A) rock the balls off fans and B) save the Russian president (Hristo Shopov) from gettin’ killed dead. He gets a partner, Mikhail (Zahary Baharov) along the way, as well a creepy way too young love interest, pop sensation Venus (Melissa Smith).
Thoughts: Lundgren wrote, directed, and starred in this love letter to rock and/or roll, and I was pretty stoked to find out he can actually play drums (in addition to having a master’s degree chemical engineering and a third degree black belt. Did you know he won the European karate championship in 1980 and ’81? Did you know that he is, scientifically speaking, the dreamiest and the creamiest?). As always, dude is the tops. The music performed in the movie isn’t always good, but it isn’t meant to be either. For a direct-to-DVD flick, Command Performance boasts an awful lot of authentic, original music.
The film around him is a little by-the-numbers, though. It’s a little Russian Die Hard, but with less awesome stuff, perhaps due to a smaller budget. Still, Lundgren gets in some cool fight scenes, and even cedes the spotlight enough to Baharov that his character feels both real and important.
One thing that bothered me a bit, though: The sub-plot in which we learn how an average yet super sex rock star like Joe learned to beat the shit out of people is way, way more compelling than the main story. I vote Lundgren drafts a Command Performance prequel.
Reflection: I take it back. If I was in Venus’ place, I’d be so totally into Lundgren too.
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