I am a bit quirky. I don’t like seeing my action heroes star in the antagonist role.
In the action-thriller “Armor,” Academy Award-winner Sylvester Stallone (“Rocky,” “Tulsa King”) is a baddie.
The lead actor in this actioner is not Stallone, but underrated Jason Patric. He portrays James Broody, an armored car driver headed for a deadly confrontation. “Armor” is set in Dallas, but don’t look for any familiar landmarks. It was shot in Mississippi.
Director Justin Routt (“The Test”) and screenwriters Cory Todd Hughes and Adrian Speckert tried to make an intense stand-off thriller, but it’s just plain blasé. Most of the action takes place on a bridge. It’s OK to roll your eyes at those scenes because there’s no bridge like that I’ve seen in Texas.
The performances are all decent, however. The violent action comes fast and furious, but the deaths don’t register much because we don’t really get to know those characters.
Patric’s character is hashed out in a back story of an earlier tragedy that turned him into a do-gooder who’s dealing with some inner demons. His only link to family is with his son Casey, played by Josh Wiggins (“Giant Little Ones”).
Some of Patric’s early work included “The Lost Boys” (1987) and “Solarbabies” (1986). He shared the screen with Jami Gertz in both of those films.
Dash Mihok plays Smoke, one of the mean heavies. He appeared in “Basic,” directed by John McTiernan, with John Travolta in 2003, but has been sort of under the radar lately.
I didn’t dislike “Armor” or have any animosity toward it because the acting was credible. It just was.
“Armor” is available on various streaming services.
Grade: C+
