“MARRED BY LOW BUDGET LACKLUSTER EXECUTION”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
AGENT RECON tries to be creative and action-packed, but its low budget shows. Also, Chuck Norris only comes in to help save the day at the end. That said, the movie gives Norris a nice sendoff line and a great smile for the camera. AGENT RECON includes lots of action violence and brief foul language. There are references to a special energy force, but the movie is vague about its origins. However, the heroes in AGENT RECON are trying to stop a maniacal mad scientist.
CONTENT:
Strong moral worldview with a touching father-daughter story and with conservative, anti-totalitarian values where the military heroes are trying to stop a mad scientists from creating and using a cadre of super soldiers to amass global power, but the movie has a humanist line that mocks “religious zealots” who call a special energy “soul energy” (the movie itself has a religious sounding word for the energy but seems to take a secular and utilitarian, science fiction view toward it) and although the movie itself isn’t religious or spiritual, and seems to have a secular view, a heroic Colonel says “Thank God” when the hero rescues the Colonel’s daughter;
Seven obscenities (four “d” words, two “h” words, one a**), one strong profanity using the name of Jesus Christ, and one light profanity;
Multiple on-screen deaths attributed to firearms, blades, hand-to-hand combat and even bare hands, are depicted;
No sex;
No nudity;
No alcohol use;
No smoking or drugs; and,
Strong miscellaneous immorality includes deliberately withholding information, seeking revenge, kidnapping, and mistreating people.
MORE DETAIL:
All those Chuck Norris memes aside, the Christian actor hasn’t made many headlines in entertainment news recently. That is, until the release of Writer/Director Derek Ting’s AGENT RECON on Amazon Prime, where Norris co-stars. With the production quality of a SHARKNADO movie, the new movie is the third (but probably not the final) installment of a trilogy that began with AGENT INTELLIGENCE in 2017 and AGENT REVELATION in 2021. All three movies star Ting as Agent Jim Yung.
AGENT RECON’s opening (and ending) narration explaining the story in the previous movies seems a bit disjointed. Much of the new movie’s selling point rides on Chuck Norris, well-known for his WALKER, TEXAS RANGER television series and his martial arts movies. However, Norris’ appearance is marginal at best. His role is important for the climax, but he doesn’t get the screen time to warrant it.
Amazon has supported brand-new alien invasion movies on its streaming platform before. THE TOMORROW WAR from 2021, an Amazon original starring Chris Pratt, Yvonne Stahovski and J.K. Simmons, was a captivating example of this genre. In contrast, the characters in AGENT RECON never once come face to face with an alien invader, even though the aliens are supposedly responsible for much of the chaos experienced by the main characters. The aliens, called “Kinians,” have contaminated communities with “ash,” a dusty substance that, if too much builds up in a person’s liver, can lead to the infected person becoming little more than a mindless minion. However, in the previous movies, the ash has given Derek Ting’s character Jim Yung superpowers.
The movie’s story opens when a man known only as Alastair, the leader of an international security force, dies in a copter crash. Jim and two companions are rescued by a small military task force led by Colonel Green, played by Marc Singer. Before he died, Alastair gave Jim a bracelet to activate an AI android that’s been downloaded with Alastair’s memories and ideas. Played by Chuck Norris, the Alastair android directs Col. Green and Jim to recon an old military base in New Mexico where someone has been running experiments on infected people. However, Green’s real motive for going there is something he keeps to himself. Alastair says the last special ops unit sent there hasn’t reported back to him. The commandos are led by a female captain named Lila Rupert, played by Nikki Leigh.
Stock footage introduces the area surrounding the base, providing some establishing shots. In addition to the deadly “ash,” viewers also hear about a dense form of energy known as “mana” (not to be confused with the heavenly bread “manna” that appears in the Old Testament). Apparently, some religious zealots think of this mana as “soul energy.” The anonymous human mad scientist villain in the story harnesses this energy to supercharge himself with more and more power. However, Jim has something up his own sleeve.
Eventually, the Alastair android, played by Chuck Norris, steps in for the climax, with fists of fury and guns a-blazing.
AGENT RECON is a passion project for Writer/Director Derek Ting. However, it falls a bit flat due to low production values and serviceable acting. The best performances come from the movie’s supporting actors, Singer, Norris and Leigh, in that order. In the second AGENT movie, Alastair’s human character was played by Michael Dorn of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION.
The choppy editing for the movie’s opening credits and the use of some stock footage for the area surrounding the military base combine with some lackluster execution in AGENT RECON. They leave the viewer hungry for something more, despite the movie’s touching references to a special family relationship between Colonel Green and Captain Rupert. AGENT RECON also gives a nice sendoff to Chuck Norris’ character. Chuck is playing an android for the most part, so he gives a naturalistic robotic performance. However, the movie gives him a great sendoff line, followed by a wonderful smile.
Mana is a term used in Melanesia and Polynesian societies to describe supernatural energy in beings and objects. However, the movie doesn’t overtly make that connection. A line of dialogue says some “religious zealots” call mana “soul energy,” but the hero doesn’t really say anything about it himself. Also, Colonel Green says, “Thank God,” when Jim saves Captain Rupert.
Given the story’s military nature, AGENT RECON has a fair amount of action violence, including combat fighting, strangulation, stabbings, and many gunfights and shootings. There are also a few relatively light obscenities and one strong profanity. So, MOVEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.