Mandrill

Now here's something you don't see every day: a martial arts-action-adventure-thriller from, uh, Chile. Actually, Mandrill marks the third collaboration between writer-director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza and star Marko Zaror (their earlier films, Mirageman and Kiltro, were barely seen in the U.S. market). In this go-round, Zaror plays the titular hitman, orphaned as a child after a murderer known as Cyclops killed his parents. Mandrill's latest assignment is to eliminate a casino owner; but when he sets his eyes on his target's gorgeous daughter, Dominic (Celine Raymond), the mission grows much more complicated, especially since Mandrill's new love interest has her own connection to Cyclops. Much of the plot is fairly standard-issue, although Zaror's acrobatic skill is very impressive (a champion martial artist and stuntman, Zaror doubled for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in The Rundown). Unfortunately, the star's acting leaves something to be desired, making the English-dubbed version included here preferable to the original Spanish-language presentation with Zaror's monotonous line readings. And while Raymond is very pretty, she rivals Zaror for inept emoting. Likely to be of moderate interest to action aficionados, this is an optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include the “Anatomy of a Fight” featurette (8 min.), a behind-the-scenes segment (3 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a small extras package for a so-so action film.] (P. Hall)