The Mundane Games
Dakota Varley (Bas Rutten) has entered a big money speed boat race but soon discovers that for the big money big things are expected to happen as in competitors are killed. When Varley attempts to leave he ends up drugged by millionaire Dawson (Michael Rooker) and when he comes to he finds himself being tossed out of a plane on to a remote island. He is not alone as there are lots of heavily armed men and 6 others in a similar state and then they discover what is going on. They will be hunted by the men with guns until only one man is left standing who will receive $10,000,000. But it seems that not all contestants are what they seem as Varley discovers one of them is an under cover agent.
"The Eliminator" opens with the boat race a scene screaming for action but is thoroughly insipid. There is no adrenalin or excitement during this scene with most of it being shot from a distance as we hear the characters bitching at each other over the radio. Oh we see the actors or at least their faces underneath helmets but they are obviously not in the speeding boats. As I said it is an insipid opening even when we get a contestants boat exploding and it doesn't bode well for what is to follow.
The thing is that after this opening it turns to formula as we discover millionaires have been kidnapping people to enter as contestants in a battle of survival on a remote island. This is a familiar set up which sees UCF champion Bas Rutten playing an action role which ironically 3 years later would see wrestler Steve Austin do the same in a very similar movie called "The Condemned".
With that all said "The Eliminator" doesn't have a great deal of story and that is to be expected but what you do expect is exciting action and that is where the movie is a real let down. When you have someone like Rutten who has natural fighting ability you expect some brutal action but you don't get it. What you get is lack lustre over edited action which does little too thrill you.
What this all boils down to is that "The Eliminator" is another entry in the last man standing, survival genre but a thoroughly insipid one which fails to deliver the action you expect from this sort of movie.
