Now out from Saban Films
A man serving time in Italy gets released early by a cop who wants to use him as an undercover to stop an ambitious man from trying to take over the drug trade in.
Written and directed by Scott Windhauser, Mafia Wars is a decently made, slightly generic, action thriller that is decently entertaining. It’s decently written and directed with a story that works, characters that are mostly just surface characters with a few having a bit more background to them, a bit more depth. The film here is made to be enjoyed, but it feels like it’s not necessarily made to be watched over and over again. It has rewatchability yes, but it’s not super deep or filled with details that require multiple viewing. It’s however an action film that would have fitted well on the shelf with most mid to late 1990s actioners, those made to showcase an actor and give him a few fun sequences, then make him our hero, let him resolve the central issue and win in the end. It’s a bit by the numbers, but when the numbers work, why change them?
The cast here sees a few familiar faces in the leads with Tom Welling as our hero and Cam Gigandet as one of the bad guys. Welling gets to have a few emotional scenes, but he’s mostly here to save the day without any effort in terms of a performance. This is not nuanced and thus his performance fits the film. Gigandet on the other hand does his best ham of a bad guy and breathes life into the story and film. He’s fun, he makes a great villain, chews some scenery, and does so with a clear willingness to just be “that guy”. Honestly, Gigandet is the biggest appeal between lead and villain here, his work is exactly what this film needed. Of course, the cast has a bunch of other people, but a few hours after watching the film and so few come to mind that they all clearly blurred into the background or into a blob of mostly villains and henchmen, hence making this very much like those old school direct to video actioners we all used to rent.
The film’s cinematography here is good, making a point to have a few solid establishing shots and a letting the viewers see the action they have come here to watch. The work by Francesco Ciccone in Italy and by Northrup Loyd in Dallas matches well without being the same. The styles are more like brothers than twins and it works well. Of course, the outdoor in Italy scenes are more interesting to someone who lives here in the US, but that doesn’t mean that the other shots don’t fit their need.
Overall Mafia Wars is decently entertaining with an easy-to-follow story, a few twists and turns most will see coming from a mile, some decent performances with a bit of scenery chewing, and a bunch of other things thrown in for the sake of the action. This is an entertaining film, but not the top of the pack by a mile. Still, it’s worth checking out and having fun with.
