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12 Rounds (2009)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.4/10
Reviews Counted: 68
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 48

Energetic but empty, 12 Rounds' preposterous plot hurtles along at a rapid pace, but can't disguise the derivative script.

Average Rating: 4/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 9

Energetic but empty, 12 Rounds' preposterous plot hurtles along at a rapid pace, but can't disguise the derivative script.

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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 81,864

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Movie Info

WWE star John Cena headlines his sophomore action picture as a police officer whose wife is kidnapped in New Orleans. Daniel Kunka provides the script, with Deep Blue Sea's Renny Harlin handling the directing duties for the 20-million-dollar Fox Atomic/WWE Films production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

PG-13, 1 hr. 48 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Action & Adventure

Directed By: Renny Harlin

Written By: Daniel Kunka

In Theaters: Mar 27, 2009 Wide

On DVD: Jun 30, 2009

Box Office:$12.2M

20th Century Fox

12 Rounds Trailer & Photos

More Photos (6)

Cast

John Cena
Danny Fisher
Steve Harris
George Aiken
Ashley Scott
Molly Porter
Aidan Gillen
Miles Jackson
Brian J. White
Hank Carver
Gonzalo Menendez
Ray Santiago
Taylor Cole
Erica Kessen
Kyle Clements
Dave Fisher
Peter Navy Tuiasosopo
Willie Dumaine
Travis Davis
Anthony Deluso
Nick Gomez
Samuel
Brian DeCaro
FBI Agent Gator
Rosalind Rubin
FBI Agent Sheila
Billy Slaughter
Technician
Kim Collins
Phil the Plumber
Lara Grice
Cell Store Owner
Wayne Ferrara
Battallion Commander
Douglas M. Griffin
Peter Gerard
Vincent Flood
Detective Chuck Jansen
Luke Albright
Johnny Jenkins
Bryan Johnson
Sleeping Streetcar Pass...
David Frye
Officer Phelps

Critic Reviews for 12 Rounds

All Critics (70) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (48) | DVD (8)

Heavy on stunts but light on plausibility, humor, surprise, visual ingenuity or psychological depth.

September 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Rob Nelson

Variety

Top Critic

12 Rounds is an occasionally exciting but always empty action movie experience.

March 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel

| Comment

Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

Top Critic

12 Rounds is the unholy stepchild of Die Hard with a Vengeance and Speed, starring a man whose lack of range makes Steven Seagal seem nuanced by comparison.

March 30, 2009 Full Review Source: ReelViews

| Comment

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Top Critic

The future of vacuous action movies is clearly with the likes of Cena, humans who resemble characters from video games, albeit without the acting chops.

March 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Newsday

| Comment

John Anderson

Newsday

Top Critic

Renny Harlin's 12 Rounds satisfies, on the most primitive level, the expectations for a second-rate action flick.

March 30, 2009 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Nathan Lee

New York Times

Top Critic

Director Renny Harlin keeps the wall-to-wall action hurtling along at such breakneck speed, that it's not hard to get swept up in the crash-and-explode craziness of it all.

March 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times

| Comments (2)

Gary Goldstein

Los Angeles Times

Top Critic

as a fast-food action director, Renny Harlin still delivers a fun movie

September 21, 2010 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures

| Comment

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

Awfully forgettable, but Harlin makes things go boom again, with ruthless efficiency that puts the flick just over the hump of the straight-to-cable Jeff Speakman school. [Blu-ray]

August 12, 2009 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews

| Comment

Peter Canavese

Groucho Reviews Source: Groucho Reviews

With all the nuance of a fist to the groin, ... (it's) the kind of forgettable film that isn't impossible to enjoy but that only a Cena fan could truly love.

July 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Times-Picayune

| Comment

Mike Scott

Times-Picayune

A very satisfying and well made action thriller that could only be improved if Arnold Schwarzenegger was the star.

July 9, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Signals

| Comment

Jules Brenner

Cinema Signals

With its wonderful post-Katrina NOLA setting and the standard stunt spectacle as only Harlin can deliver, 12 Rounds is actually quite good. It's no masterpiece, but then again, few post-millennial adrenaline rushes have been.

July 4, 2009 Full Review Source: PopMatters

| Comment

Bill Gibron

PopMatters

...a decent action movie that could've been a great one...

June 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews

| Comment

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Loud, idiotic nonsense.

June 2, 2009 Full Review Source: Observer [UK]

| Comment

Philip French

Observer [UK]

Apart from the palpably improbable storyline, Harlan shows a massive disregard for characterisation, and so much bang-bang editing that you scarcely know where you are.

June 2, 2009 Full Review Source: This is London

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Derek Malcolm

This is London

Cena has the sort of likeable air that suggests he could just make it as an action movie type. However, it won't be thanks to this movie.

June 2, 2009 Full Review Source: Sunday Mail [UK]

| Comment

Mickey McMonagle

Sunday Mail [UK]

This is a welcome throwback for audiences raised on '90s action flicks - what they used to call "a pulse-pounding roller-coaster thrill-ride of a movie".

May 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment

Genevieve Harrison

Empire Magazine

There's a decent little action movie somewhere inside '12 Rounds': a bit more complexity of character, a few more jokes and a hero who doesn't look like a two-by-four with a buzz cut might have gone a long way.

May 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Tom Huddlestone

Time Out

While 12 Rounds is well above average for an action movie, it's important not to get too carried away. This is, after all, a picture in which leading lady Ashley Scott is less appealing than her pet pug.

May 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Richard Luck

Film4

A lunk-headed, brawling action movie with more muscle than brains and the kind of editing that feels like being repeatedly shot in the eyes with a staple gun.

May 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Times [UK]

| Comment (1)

Wendy Ide

Times [UK]

One long blur of car stunts and digital clocks counting down to detonation - passable for lazy television viewing, but not worth the price of a ticket.

May 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Times [UK]

| Comment

Edward Porter

Times [UK]

It remains to be seen whether this crude, dumbly entertaining outing will encourage the director to tackle more of the Greek myths.

May 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]

| Comment

Xan Brooks

Guardian [UK]

12 Rounds's familiarity undercuts any kind of suspense it hopes to build, and for an action-packed romp it's incredibly dull.

May 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Digital Spy

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Simon Reynolds

Digital Spy

Those in the mood for something kinda dumb but lotsa fun look no further.

May 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Sky Movies

| Comment

Rob Daniel

Sky Movies

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for 12 Rounds

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Renny Harlin was Hollywood next big action expert in the early 90s and has disappeared quite a bit in recent years. Here, his job was to turn Wrestling star John Cena into the next Schwarzenegger, or The Rock. That does work up to a certain degree. Cena is certainly not the film's biggest problem, even if his acting

March 31, 2009

Jens S.

Super Reviewer

Cast: Ashley Scott, John Cena, Brian J. White, Steve Harris, Aidan Gillen, Taylor Cole, Lara Grice, Billy Slaughter, Sam Medina, Louis Herthum Director: Renny Harlin Summary: Helmed by Renny Harlin, this tense actioner stars World Wrestling Entertainment grappler John Cena as Det. Danny Fisher, a New Orleans cop

July 11, 2009