I've said it before in other reviews: action heroes shouldn't do these military team movies. Playing one part of a regulated squad – even the leader – is bound to result in a lot less screen time and focus on the star of the movie, and Mark Dacascos' role in CRASH POINT is no exception. This is an impersonal, unoriginal little adventure with very mild highlights, populated by characters I had a hard time caring about. In a word, it's overlookable.
The story: When the leader of a murderous rebel alliance (Dick Israel) steals a new technology with which to hijack planes by remote control, a strike force led by Captain Matt Daniels (Dacascos) is dispatched to retrieve it.
I haven't watched the original THE HUNT FOR EAGLE ONE, but if any of the returning characters were established there, they don't carry over much personality. Dacascos' immediate costar is Theresa Randle, and she has barely more luck than Mark and his three teammates at establishing herself. Jeff Fahey's here in an action-free role to supply on-off narration, and Joe Mari Avellana is utterly wasted in his do-nothing part. In its final quarter, the film manages to create at least some tension, but it's too little come too late, after I've sat through so many drawn-out shootouts that only served to disengage me.
Said final quarter of the film also includes a decent fight between Mark and supporting villain Boy Roque, wherein Roque attacks with a knife and Mark counters with a computer keyboard. Beyond this, there's nothing to get excited about, though plenty of directorial weirdness to raise an eyebrow at. The movie is practically on life support through the grace of lifted footage. Some of it's stock footage, and the rest of it's clearly shots from bigger and better movies. Additionally, for some reason, almost all of the original footage has been edited to include a noticeable color contrast – giving the movie the same look that conventional flicks reserve only for flashback scenes. How odd.
Luckily, this franchise seems to have run its course long before I even got to it, and I look forward to not watching any additional sequels. I don't recommend anyone else sees this one, either, unless you're completely out of other Dacascos material.
