New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

What follows is a very by the books adventure movie in which just about everything that can go wrong does. Like I mentioned, it’s up to Latura to save the day and like his character, Stallone has to carry the movie. As is the case with most of Stallone’s movies, this isn’t exactly an ensemble piece. No, the star is front and center. The supporting cast barely registers. Even so, we do get a couple of other characters who manage to wrestle some spotlight from Stallone.

Amy Brenneman turns in a serviceable performance as "Maddy" Thompson, a struggling playwright and love interest. The movie also has one of the most resilient dogs this side of Independence Day. He’s cool. Dogs are cool. But of the supporting cast, the one who really shines is Viggo Mortensen. Yes, Mortensen is in this movie and if you’ve forgotten, that’s enough reason to go revisit Daylight. He plays Roy Nord, a rich sports celebrity. He’s a famous mountain climber and has done some television work. If he didn’t get killed so quickly, he definitely would have stolen the movie from Stallone. Mortensen plays the character as a cocky douche but he’s really good at it.

As much as special effects have done to improve the movie experience, they also tend to date a movie. A cutting edge movie today can become laughably bad if the special effects don’t hold up. But in the special effects in Daylight were and still are very impressive. The action is also very enjoyable. Instead of going for over-the-top action scenes, the movie is more subdued and - dare I say - subtle. Latura, like Stallone, is past his peak and relies more on his cunning resourcefulness than muscles. He’s not an omnipotent demigod but a man struggling in a difficult situation.

But like I said before, this is Stallone’s show and the movie rests on his shoulders. And it is his performance that really makes this an enjoyable film. If we’re going to make a Rocky analogy - and why wouldn’t we? - he’s not the unstoppable machine from Rocky 4 but closer to the humbled man in Rocky 5 who can’t reconcile the man he used to be with who he’s become (and yes, I do love Rocky 5). Stallone isn’t worried about doing damage to his tough guy persona. He is more concerned with giving us a sympathetic character with depth than spouting out one-liners.

The movie definitely has its flaws. It’s saddled with more clichés than I want to mention. And the personalities of (most of) the supporting cast are so paper thin, it’s a wonder they don’t melt in the water. But thanks to a very cute dog, some solid special effects, Viggo Mortensen, and my main man Stallone, Daylight is a very enjoyable and overlooked action movie worth checking out.

Continued:       1       2