Battleground (2012) (aka: Skeleton Lake) starring Bryan Larkin, Hugh Lambe, Bob Cymbalski, Robert Nolan directed by Neil Mackay Movie Review

Battleground (2012)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Battleground (2012) (aka: Skeleton Lake)

In Need of Norris

It should have been straight forwards but some how a heist goes wrong with civilians killed and police shot leading to six robbers having to lay low for a few days until they can fly on out of the country with their $3.2 million. Having come across a wooden lodge in the middle of a forest they take up temporary residence and bury the body of one of their own who got injured then killed. But then strange things start to happen as their van disappears and then the body of their dead friend and before they know it their numbers have dropped. What none of them know is they have stumbled in to the home of a highly trained Vietnam Vet and there is no way he is letting these low laying low lifes to get out of there alive.

I so wanted to enjoy "Battleground" as whilst it all sounded quite familiar the thought of a Vietnam Vet living alone in the woods taking down a bunch of bad guys who intrude in to his life sounded like some action fun. In fact whilst some might picture Stallone making this movie as part of the Rambo franchise I saw it more as a movie for Chuck Norris. But unfortunately the end product left me for a long time bored and when it did try to come good with some action it only achieved it in short bursts.

Now part of the problem with "Battleground" is that for far too long director Neil Mackay focuses on the interactions between the criminals as they snipe at each other over whose fault it is that they are in this situation. If he had given us clearly defined characters it may have worked but all we have is some criminals who in truth look unlikely to have the balls let alone the skills to pull of a heist. And then we have the introduction of Heather, a woman who stumbles across the robbers in the wood and really has no part to play other than to be a female distraction.

About the only thing in "Battleground" which comes close to impressing is the cinematography as whilst it isn't great it is at least solid and not full of unwatchable shaky cam moments.

What this all boils down to is that "Battleground" could have been an entertaining movie for those who enjoy action movies combined with some graphic horror but in the end it ends up slow and only occasionally punctuated by a moment of violence.


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