Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Leofwine_draca Van Damme's latest thriller is a low-budget riff on BLACK HAWK DOWN, complete with a foreign locale (this time it's the cheap-to-make-films-in Romania) and lots of scenes of arms-waving militia walking the streets and engaging in shoot-outs with the defending Americans. Essentially this is yet another siege film, as the heroes protect innocent people holed up in a single location and attempt to hold out against overwhelming numbers until help arrives. Except one of the problems with the low budget is that there aren't actually that many bad guys on screen at one, probably a dozen, and it's pretty obvious at times that extras are playing multiple parts.In the film's favour, this boasts another decent performance from Van Damme, something that's become quite comment in his recent films. Van Damme is a likable, friendly type of guy throughout, and you find yourself rooting for him from the beginning. The supporting cast members (most of whom have 'graduated' from UK soaps) are okay, with the standouts being Velibor Topic's imposing rebel leader and Julie Cox's fragile reporter. The locations are passable and there are some decent big-bucks explosions at the film's climax, in which the CGI helicopters are the only things that don't convince. There is less action than you'd imagine, and Van Damme only gets to engage in a couple of fist fights. My main problem with the film is that director Simon Fellows seems to find it necessary to shoot his scenes in a juddery, hand-held camera style that always cuts away from the impact. This is particularly bad in the fight scenes, which are little more than blurred messes where you spend half the time trying to figure out who's hitting who.Still, the film deserves kudos for the gory eye-gouging that Van Damme inflicts on one particularly unpleasant villain. If it wasn't for Fellows dropping the ball with some truly bad camera-work, SECOND IN COMMAND would have been a highly decent B-movie. As it stands, it's a watchable film with plenty of problems but one that somehow proves to be just as likable as its leading man.

kites0852 This is probably one of Mr. Van Damme's worst movies in my opinion. I wouldn't even grade it a good B movie! As a 20 year veteran of the U.S. Navy, I was shocked at the poor attempt to recreate US Military uniforms. The officer uniform he is wearing when he enters the hotel at the beginning has Enlisted service stripes (that go approx 1/4 the circumference of the sleeve) instead of officer stripes indicating rank which totally encircle the sleeve. The jacket itself has such large lapels that the ribbons and his Seal insignia are not even visible. Actual uniforms may hide the first ribbon, but the Seal insignia is quite large and very visible when worn on this uniform.In addition, when he arrives at his new command after the attack, he is greeted by a Marine in one of the worst uniforms I have ever seen on a Marine! If a Marine were to wear his uniform in that manner, he would not be a Marine for long! It is very apparent that the US Military did not get consulted for this movie! Errors glare like this throughout the movie. I am a 20+ year retired veteran of the USN and quite able to accurately known what uniforms should look like!

movieman-234 Wooden acting. "Plot twists" that you can see coming almost from the opening credits. Utterly and completely predictable.You've got a whole army of "actors" who have obviously never fired a real gun. And why is it that all the shooters in the fire fights just stand out in the open to be shot? Cover's available, but no one seems to think that getting shot might hurt. Most of the movie consists of people standing around talking about who's in charge and what they're going to do (while the bad guys wait patiently outside - doing nothing.)The Marine Expeditionary Force is 6 hours out. The army relief is 4 hours out. They both arrive within minutes of each other... but when the Marines show up, they announce that they are the US Army! Doh! The whole movie is supposed to be setting up tension about whether the defense force can hold out until reinforcements arrive - but it totally fails in that regard. You can almost hear the cast yawning (or was that the audience?) the tension is so - not there.There's the trite and underdone squabble over "who's in command", and of course, any time Van Damme isn't running things, people get whacked.Special effects were unconvincing. Editing looked disjointed and jerky. Could say the same about the acting. The female reporter is such a dip - makes you wonder why the "hero" would have anything to do with her.I rated this movie a '2', because it could have been worse... it could have been longer!

graeylin I tried to watch this movie today, and couldn't even make it past the first thirty minutes. It wasn't that the acting was bad (it was), or that the plot was poor (a Navy SEAL commander being given charge of an Embassy?), but that the logic and tactics were so hideous, I couldn't stand to watch anymore: The marine corporal flashes a SEAL UNIT ID card: First, he's a marine, not a SEAL. Second, a driver would flash his military ID, not a SEAL ID. Third, no way that guy was a SEAL.When they first arrive at the embassy, the car just drives right into the grounds: no checks, no ID, no searches. Heck, you can't drive onto the grounds of a government OFFICE complex without some ID checks, and these marines just open the gate to the first black car that heads their way.During the first attack on the embassy, a marine notifies his gunny that they have an RPG in the street, and no one does a thing! No one sets up to shoot the RPG gunner, no one says a word to anyone else.. they just let him set up calmly in the street, and shoot. Only AFTER the grenade goes through the PLATE GLASS WINDOWS facing the street (with no wire mesh, screens, or bars on them), does the embassy WHICH HAS BEEN UNDER ATTACK already decide to lower their steel window covers.Also during the rescue, the marines have no orderly retreat/cover fire, and they leave two outside the embassy, about 25 feet from shelter? Twelve marines on the walls to provide cover fire, and not a one can manage to help their two buddies get 25 feet down the street.I had to stop watching... it was making me ill, just to see the mistakes.