OPEN FIRE is a formulaic item that will tire even the most ardent action fans.
Terrorist leader Kruger (Patrick Kilpatrick), is wasting away in prison. Kruger's cohorts take over a local plastics plant, hoping to blackmail law enforcement officers to release Kruger and pay a ransom of $30 million. Their threat: They will destroy LA with chemical weapons unless they get their
way.
At a local bar, construction worker Alec McNeil (Jeff Wincott) sees a news bulletin of the plant take-over. McNeil, whose father owns the plant, rushes to the site. As McNeil travels to the plant, he has a flashback of his days as an FBI man: Disobeying orders to hold fire, McNeil attacked and
killed a criminal, but not before the man had killed McNeil's partner. Thus, McNeil was suspended for an action he deemed necessary, and quit the FBI in disgrace.
When McNeil gets to the plant, he asks to rejoin the FBI's hostage unit--a request which is resoundingly denied. So begins McNeil's solo career as a one-man anti-terrorist unit. Eventually, McNeil and Kruger have a showdown, with McNeil emerging as the victor. LA is saved, Kruger ends up back in
jail, and McNeil is offered his FBI job back.
Most of the effort in this movie appears to have gone into the sound effects that accompany every kick, punch, and head-butt. Money would have been more wisely spent on the screenplay, which is hopelessly predictable. The actors, particularly Wincott and Kilpatrick, do the best they can with what
they're given, but they're given very little. In the end, OPEN FIRE leaves you wishing that LA had been wiped out by Kruger's terrrorists. At least that way, this movie might never have gotten made.(Violence, adult situations.) leave a comment
