Exit Protocol ( Blu ray review )

Everyone have something that will always cheer you up, no matter if it´s a specific song, perhaps a favourite book, or could even be a favourite film. No matter what makes you happy on a bad day, i say go for it. After all we go through so many rough times in life, we have to be able to enjoy certain moments as well. Me personally i have several things that can make me really happy. For example i love listening to Kula Shaker´s debut album K released in 1996, one of my personal favourite rock albums of all time. Whenever i hear songs like Grateful When You´re Dead, Hey Dude, Govinda, Tattva, Knight On The Town and many other songs, i just get into the groove and just rock out. Now, when i have to choose a film i could easily choose a classic like Taxi Driver, Fargo, Leon The Professional, Godfellas and many more. Sometimes though i just want to watch something that really entertain me, for a completely different reason. And this is where i would choose without a doubt to wach the 1992 action sci fi film Universal Soldier. Seriously, what else do you need? Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren as super soldiers, fighting against each other in a whole film? There are some funny scenes as well that comes out of nowhere. You can´t ask for much more than this, and this is why i love Universal Soldier being just a fun action movie for movie nerds like myself. Since i mentioned Dolph Lundgren, i have always said over the years he is one of the best actors ever from Sweden. He may not be the best always at delivering dramatic acting, but he really knows how to deliver funny dialogue and of course make great action films. I love so many of his films, how can you not watch Red Scorpion, The Punisher, Dark Angel, Showdown In Little Tokyo, Men Of War? I have seen a lot of his more modern action films as well over many years, most of them i do enjoy. One of the films that came out on blu ray in Germany this spring is called Exit Protocol. Not only does this film include Dolph but also action actor / martial art actor Michael Jai White. Of course i had to pick up a physical copy for this review. Is this another solid action release with Dolph, or have he lost some of his charm along the way with Exit Protocol?

Professional assassin Sam Hayden ( Scott Martin ) have been killing clients for many years, he is fed up with this job. He decides it is finally time to end his assassin career, and find a different purpose in his life. But what do you do when your past never leaves you behind, and you are forced to find a different way out, knowing it could end your life completely?

Let me be very clear by saying this. If you don´t enjoy old school American action films from the VHS era, i can tell you right now that Exit Protocol is definetely nothing that will make you happy. This is as basic as you could get from an action formula that we have seen so many times befiore, and yet we keep coming back to watch these kinds of movies. I could sit here and find flaws and talk about what this film doesn´t have that could have been interesting, but this is the kind of film that was made for the true fans of Dolph Lundgren. Where the script doesn´t matter, we don´t care about the main plot, just give us action scenes with guns and cheesy dialogue just like we did in the 80´s and 90´s. And this is exactly why you should watch a film such as Exit Protocol if you just want to be entertained, a film so easy to digest you don´t have to think anything at all. And it´s actually nice to have films like these made still to this day, everything doesn´t have to be serious all the time. So what does work with this film? Let me point out that if you enjoy simple plots that don´t feel complicated at all, then this should be something for you. The plot is so simple it could have been written at a McDonald´s restaurant napkin ( on both sides of course or there would be no plot ). This is basically an assassin action film that reminded me of films like Assassin with Sylverster Stallone, and even the 2011 action film Assassination Game with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Scott Adkins. None of these films have the same plots as Exit Protocol, but you can sense that it is similar films that inspired director Shane Dax Taylor to make this film. Dolph is actually not the lead actor in this film so that´s kind of surprising, but i can totally accept that. Lead actor Scott Martin does alright in his lead role as assassin Sam, fun to see him work together with Dolph since they worked together on the action film Best Man. Michael Jai White does alright as well, i can´t really complain. Something i appreciate about this film is to show that working as an assassin, that means you can´t have a normal family life. Sam is bascially going from work to work, no real family, no purpose in life other than work. That really show you that this job doesn´t give you much else other than just a paycheck. One of the issues i might have is that some of the gun battle scenes might feel a little bit stiff. If you are going to make shoot out scenes, make them fun and entertainng at least. Otherwise i think this is a pretty solid action film if you just want something simple to enjoy.  Director Shane Dax Taylor deliver a film made for old school action fans, i think that pretty much says all you need to know.

Rating: DDD

If you want a physical blu ray copy of this film, you can buy your copy on the following link:

Exit Protocol [Blu-ray]: Amazon.de: Martin, Scott, Lundgren, Dolph, White, Michael Jai, Kirk, Charlotte, Taylor, Shane Dax, Martin, Scott, Lundgren, Dolph: DVD & Blu-ray