Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

The Marine 4: Moving Target Blu-ray Movie Review

This IS your father's Action movie.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 22, 2015

The WWE isn't yet making waves in the film industry, but it is making a nifty little name for itself by way of its The Marine franchise, a series featuring WWE Superstars in the lead roles. It all began back in 2006 with the John Cena-starring first film, followed by two sequels, one featuring Ted DiBiase and the other The Miz. Now, for the first time, a lead actors returns in a sequel. The Marine 4: Moving Target once again stars The Miz as Jake Carter, an ex-Marine who is now charged with protecting a young and vulnerable whistleblower. The movie is a nuts-and-bolts Action picture, absent any sort of tangible depth and content to simply go through the motions of run, gun, run, gun, run, gun. It satisfies core -- very core -- genre requirements and will please audiences looking for a slick new spin on a well worn Action movie treadmill. Any other cinephile need not apply.

"I'm (pretty) awesome in this movie."

Jake Carter (The Miz) and a group of highly trained agents are assigned to protect a young woman named Olivia Tanis (Melissa Roxburgh), a whistleblower who has unearthed damaging evidence against several bigwigs at Genesis Defense Corporation involving faulty body armor worn by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. She's been on the run but has been forcibly returned to the U.S. to testify. Almost as soon as she lands in the care of Jake's unit, she and they come under fire from a heavily armed and expertly trained group of mercenaries led by Andrew Vogel (Josh Blacker) and a deadly sniper named Rachel Dawes (WWE Diva Summer Rae). Almost everyone but Jake is killed; he escapes with Tannis but it's not long before they're tracked down and forced into a running gun battle in which they're outmanned and outgunned. Volgel's employers want Tanis dead, and they won't hesitate to pull the trigger on anyone who gets in their way. But Jake is hard-headed and refuses to allow his charge to be taken out without a fight, even against overwhelming odds.

Generic though it may be, The Marine 4: Moving Target never aspires to be anything more than a simple cinema pleasure, a film that knows its place, plays to its strengths, and gets by in terms of building characters and a plot. The story specifics don't matter -- nobody cares about a fictional corporation's misdeeds -- and the characters are expectedly as thin as a WWE Diva, all of them walking, talking, and shooting figures who serve only to run, punch, and pull a trigger. The movie makes sure to maneuver away from core plot details and towards what it does well, which is fill the screen with an almost endless stream of gunshots. The movie will immediately remind audiences of a number of Action movies, from Cliffhanger to The Transporter, in which a lone hero is tasked with battling a number of bad guys on his or her own. Otherwise, there's really nothing to see here and nothing to distinguish this movie from any other.

Where the movie puts most of its marbles, then, is in its technical excellence. The picture enjoys a slick, polished veneer that helps to cover up the absence of dramatic content beyond the necessary and transparent plot drivers. The film's various shootouts and fisticuffs are very well staged and feel authentic -- viewers can even watch a semitransparent rifle magazine empty as a character unloads on full auto -- with a tangible sense of danger to the gun battles and a smooth operation to the fistfights, which are significantly faster and more convincing than most in-ring WWE battles. Audiences hoping for a heavy dose of Diva Summer Rae will be disappointed; she's barely in the movie as more than a background piece and may not say more than 20 words the entire time. On the flip side, The Miz proves himself to be a capable actor and well suited to this part in particular. He mixes tough and approachable very well, which helps him in his burgeoning relationship with his young charge. Danielle Moinet carries her part smartly, too, blending a nice bit of toughness and innocence that helps her grow through the course of the film, both as a friend to The Miz's Jake Carter and as a budding survivalist who must do whatever she can to pitch in to help defeat the bad guys.

The Marine 4: Moving Target Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Marine 4: Moving Target features a fantastic 1080p transfer. It's one of the cleanest, clearest, most well defined images one's going to find on a direct-to-video release. Details are crisp and naturally sharp. The transfer produces faultless, lifelike textures on faces, clothes, and terrain to the point of tactile authenticity and down the the finest pore, bead of sweat, stitch, and pebble. Colors are bright and even; dense background greens usually give way to earthy terrains and camouflage military uniforms. Jake's blue suit and a few random splashes in different locations add some variety to an exacting but otherwise unvaried palette. Black levels are precise and skin tones are natural. The picture never shows noise, banding, or blocking. One severe blink-and-miss-it example of aliasing appears on a semi truck's grill in one shot around the 36:30 mark, but it's the only mar on an otherwise picture-perfect transfer from Fox.

The Marine 4: Moving Target Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Marine 4: Moving Target features a well-rounded DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music is aggressive but not overbearing, offering quality heft, good spacing and surround support, and commendable clarity and attention to detail. The track offers a blend of action and support sound elements. The various locations spring to life with rolling waters and other natural sounds immersing the listener in the film's gorgeous exteriors while minor little bits offer a healthy sense of place indoors, such as when the action shifts to a police station. Gunfire plays with prominence and a nice weight to the rat-a-tat rapid firing of automatic weapons. It's not as purely heavy and ear-shattering as real life, but the general depth and sense of purpose that accompanies every shot is a major plus. Basic dialogue plays with good, clear, center-focused placement.

The Marine 4: Moving Target Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Marine 4: Moving Target contains several supplements. Inside the Blu-ray case, buyers will find a voucher for a UV digital copy of the film.

• Firepower (1080i, 10:12): A short look at real world military experience on set, the push for authenticity, training the cast in the use of weapons, the guns featured in the movie, the science of shooting blanks, and using squibs on the set.
• The Franchise (1080i, 5:48): A quick look back at the films in the series and what makes them appealing.
• Beauty is Dangerous (1080i, 4:14): A look at the cast and makeup.
• Sneak Peek (1080p): Trailers for Taken 3, Bad Asses on the Bayou, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Unfinished Business, The November Man, and Homeland Season 4

The Marine 4: Moving Target Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Recently on WWE's flagship Monday Night RAW program, The Miz's former "stunt double" Damien Mizdow stole the show and stole the girl, knocking down The Miz and kissing Summer Rae. That's more drama than The Marine 4: Moving Target ever puts on the screen. The movie is empty but still a fair bit of fun as it goes through the motions without any higher aspirations than entertaining the target wrestling demographic with 90 minutes of gunplay and a generic story woven through it. The performances are good, the gun is play nicely staged, and the movie plays with a commendable polish to it. It's a shame it's not a bit more creative, but for what it is it's more than serviceable. 20th Century Fox's Blu-ray release of The Marine 4: Moving Target features stunning video, solid audio, and a trio of featurettes. Recommended.