The Weapon (2023)

1/2 Star (out of 4)

Misfire

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Incoherent, abysmally acted, and bafflingly edited, this generic action movie is frustrating on many levels, but its cynicism, both toward its characters and the viewers, is the worst thing about it.

A directorial debut by its star, Tony Schiena, The Weapon is so bad that it's almost impossible to even describe the plot.

Here goes: one-man army Dallas (Tony Schiena) is on a rampage, attacking drug cartels and biker gangs. These actions are seemingly directed at crime boss Lars (Richard Grieco), who also has Dallas's ex, Iris (AnnaLynne McCord), held against her will. With both the police and Lars's men on Dallas's trail, everything comes down to one question: who is Dallas working for and why?

The first twenty minutes is a rhythmless muddle, as they cut between sequences with main character Dallas beating up everyone in sight, and sequences in which he's tied to a chair and beaten. Are these flashbacks? Is it some kind of montage? There's no answer.

It's also difficult to know who anyone is. Characters just show up, and we have no idea what they're up to or what their relationship with anyone is. Acting is uniformly amateurish, except for pros like Cuba Gooding Jr., Jeff Fahey, and Bruce Dern, who appear in one scene each, for only a few minutes. And characters are irritatingly dumb, walking right into death traps we can see coming a mile away.

The film's ending (with Fahey and Dern) demonstrates the callousness of it all, making it as close to worthless as a movie can possibly get.