Project 12: The Bunker (2016) Reviews

• I thought I was watching an Uwe Boll film...

  MamaPapaXP2016-02-29

  I watched this film in the vain hope it was an adaptation of a video game whose plot I remembered being quite interesting. (I couldn't remember it at the time but now know it was 2010's 'Singularity.') Sadly, I was disappointed. (On more than one level.) The plot sees Eric Roberts hiring a team of mercenaries to retrieve a long since discontinued Russian cold-war experiment which is buried in a remote bunker. With a fairly decent premise for the ultimate nature of the experiment, six different story locations, the presence of Game of Thrones' brilliant James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont) and no less than five plot 'twists', reveals and 'turnabouts' you'd be forgiven for thinking the film was, at the very least, good-ish, but you'd be wrong. The problems begin with the script and the way it's delivered; "Do you mind if I smoke in your house" says a merc to his boss while he's already sat smoking. (Not funny, not necessary, not delivered well and does nothing for the scene.) Or some tasteless racist comments from one character that are also not funny or necessary. (His opponent was going to kill him anyway, he didn't need a contrived reason.) There are so many places where the lines, or their delivery, just fall flat or detract from the pace or tension. On that note, it is sad to see the formerly brilliant Eric Roberts totally phoning his lines in. (When an actor has over FORTY films due for release in 2016 alone, that's not a good thing and it really shows.) Next, there are the asinine plot decisions, such as a merc in desperate need of lots of artillery who finds a room full of AK47s and takes one. Just one. And no extra ammo; or the totally inexplicable appearance of the boss, near the end of the film, who really should have just gone there with the mercenaries. And the mercenaries? This crack team seem to know nothing about each other or their true motives and I couldn't imagine them working together by the end of the film. Then there are the effects. Apparently, 1960's Russia were using 1990's white computer monitors for their excellent quality closed circuit cameras. I can forgive using the same couple of tunnels from dozens of angles, with different lighting each time, to simulate the effect of a maze-like bunker but adding some changing corridor furniture or wall decals would have made it more believable and less boring. As to the cheap and ludicrously obvious chroma key for cavernous rooms and absolutely dire and badly scaled CGI/image cloning for the battalion is totally unforgivable in this day and age, when better end results can be seen on you tube with free software. Ultimately, this film is not so bad that it isn't watchable, (it's even occasionally enjoyable (especially the very well choreographed hand-to-hand fight sequence) but the let-downs outnumber the tolerable parts a little too much for my liking. It's curious to note that, despite my going into this thinking it might be based on a well-loved game, it turned out not to be, but it looked suspiciously like a film from the king of god-awful video game to movie conversions, Uwe Boll. That should say it all, really.

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• Typical indie

  Leofwine_draca2018-10-18

  PROJECT 12: THE BUNKER is another indie sci-fi/thriller with zero redeeming qualities. The only difference about it is that it was shot in Spain, although it's no different to a bad indie from any other country. Some shady Russian characters conduct top-secret experiments and then attempt to cover them up by killing everyone involved. The rest involves cheap action scenes and characters running about in the dark. Eric Roberts and James Cosmo both play in support and should no better than appearing in such a hopeless production.

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• Corny thriller that I thought to be tongue and cheek, but was trying to be real!

  alvaroinvest-221582017-08-20

  Spare yourselves the time wasted on this terrible movie. Some reasonable acting but the script is unoriginal, the effects dire, and the directing is all over the place. At the start I thought this was an 80's spoof cold war movie, expecting it to be a comedy, but it takes itself far too seriously and falls down after 20 minutes.

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• Jaime: Compliments, well done!

  idaint-546132016-06-22

  The film is a great action thriller very entertaining. In my opinion, also knowing the limited resources the project had, is quiet well done. I guess the idea is original and believable and if the setting is in the past, is bringing back to the reality an ideological conflict which is not yet over: even more, is very actual, unfortunately. Jaime with really limited contacts, basically no support and by living in a remote island in the Atlantic as Tenerife, is achieving step by step a level of quality production which I find amazing compared to the relatively low production cost. I wish him success for his career and looking forward to his next movies.

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• Some B-Grade movie fun to be had here

  eddie_baggins2018-08-23

  Take one brief look at the synopsis for Bunker: Project 12 and you will quickly understand that you're very much in B-grade movie territory, the type of landscape where you will need to switch your brain off and leave your better judgement at the door should you wish to enjoy the silly and budget-restrained goodies' that a film such as this often entails. To call Project 12 a good film would be a lie, but against all the odds, Jaime Falero's high-concept action/thriller ends up being a film with enough neat ideas and scenarios to remain ever watchable, the perfect mindless film to put on for a rainy night and another chance to see Eric Roberts in one of the 100's of film's his seemingly appeared in over the last 12 - 18 months. Interestingly for a film of Project 12's ilk, Falero spends a large portion of the early runtime afforded to him to slow-build his narrative as a collection of long-hidden Russian scientists involved in top secret experiments during the Cold War are killed-off until the film then moves into more horror/thriller territory when James Cosmo's soviet veteran Brian Balanowsky and a team of top-tier mercenaries enter into the fabled bunker to uncover its long dormant secrets. It's a wise move by Falero to build up to this moment as the action and effects work on show here aren't much chop, no doubt hampered by a low-end budget, there's just not the tools available for Falero to fully enact out the potential of Project 12's idea, which is the type of idea you can see future film's riffing off thanks to its potential to be a highly over the top yet also highly entertaining mix of action and thrills in a setting that feels ripe for such a set-up. With limits to what the film can achieve with its production values and resources, it's great to see the films cast have fun with what they're given with Roberts, Cosmo and other cast members such as Joaquín Sánchez (who also co-writes) and Natasha Alam all understanding what they are a part of and delivering delightfully D-grade turns which helps make the film an at times laugh out loud experience with hilariously placed zingers and lines for the cast to deliver. Final Say - With TV movie of the week conception, Bunker: Project 12 is the type of film you're likely to find on late night TV after the majority of us have gone to bed but with a fun concept and some hugely appealing ideas, Falero's film may not be great, but it does offer some good fun along its journey. 2 flamethrowers out of 5

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