Con Express

"Con Express" is a fun flick.

The plot goes like this: Alex Brooks (Flanery) is an special agent assigned to bring down Anton Simeonov (Vosloo) who has a nuclear device. Brooks has to team up with another agent (Ursula Karven) when he gets double-crossed. The Cold War is back and it's heating up...

This is one of the last movies produced by PM entertainment. It looks like they spared no expense (except the stock footage of "Runaway Train"). The action scenes are well-shot. The stand-out is the gunfight in the cabin. Flanery, Karven, and Vosloo put in good performances for the silly material.

If you're looking for a good couch potato movie, "Con Express" should fit the bill.

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Con Express is a second rate action movie with first rate directon, acting and an effective score.

I 1st saw a screening of it at the Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuk, Michigan and then recently on it's DVD. This movie also has a good sense of humor and doesn't take itself too seriously. The direction of Terry Cunnigham is rather innovative considering the productions budgetary limitations. Sean Patrick Flanery is great and I've been a fan of his ever sine The Boondock Saints. And Arnold Vosloo is the villian. (That's right the Mummy from The Mummy, and also the much better Hard Target, directed by action-master John Woo) He's the world's most dangerous terrorist and he's just stolen some barrels of the deadly Saran gas. Flanery plays Alex Brooks a post Sept. 11th Alaskan Customs agent who catches Simconov (Vosloo) and confiscates the barrels of Saran. Brooks is accompanied by a female agent named Natalya (Ursula Karven) who is after Simconov for revenge after he bombed a federal building with her son inside. They get on a plane with Simconov in custody, but it isn't long before everything goes wrong. Simconov parachutes out of the plane and then it crashes. The only survivors are Brooks and Natalya. It's up to them to stop Simconov from retrieving the barrels of Saran, which are on a train guarded with Marines heading through the Canadian wilderness.

Lots of action, plenty of smiles and an overall worthwhile watch.

(Also B-Movie veteran Tim Thomerson of Trancers fame plays Brooks superior.)

I only bought this film with the hope to see Arnold Vosloo as a proper psycho villain again but like in most of his films he doesn't get much screen time at all which is very frustrating because he's the best thing in the film, in my opinion. The film is bad and totally unoriginal but it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's a bit like a big-budget American TV series. Some of the action is enjoyable because it's not done on the cheap as I expected but there is way too much deja-vu. Sean and Ursula do an alright job, although I'd have preferred them getting someone better looking and cooler to play Natalya (simply because she is supposed to be this enigmatic & beautiful character) and Sean hasn't got enough weight to carry the film on his own as the leading man, especially with someone like Vosloo as the villain. The hilarious bit of nudity was gratuitous and pathetic, but the actors make you forget it quickly enough, thank gowd! The "crazy, violent & unstable" Russian stereotypes are very outdated and preposterous but the actors play their parts well, especially Vosloo(apart from his accent) who always looks at best as the big villain with his stature and expressive face (although I cringed at some of his lines). Anyway, I suggest you don't waste money on this DVD, only perhaps if you are a fan of Sean's or Vosloo's because there are much superior action/terrorism alternatives out there.

What can I say? Vosloo has done it again! I had the chance to watch this movie recently and I thought it was great, however, it isn't perfect, but what is? Vosloo is perfectly cast in the role and adds great charm and wit to an otherwise serious and plot-driven film. Vosloo's facial gestures and expressions simply brighten up the screen and his personality as a bad guy shines in his role as an ex-Russian general, although I do feel he should try more 'good guy' roles! Anyways, Vosloo even gives the movie some memorable one lines such as: "Gentlemen, we have a train to catch" and "Oh, I'm popular today", which are simply magnificent. Flanery is OK but gets over-shadowed by Vosloo and eventually become quite boring as a main character. Vosloo can only be described as "bond-like" in his manner, achieving to make this movie an action packed, fast-paced epic in the train heist genre that is all too familiar. If it weren't for Arnold I may not have picked up this masterpiece, but having done so, I am positive that it one of my best DVDs and I have it proudly on display. The missiles, explosions and gunfights are breathtaking throughout the film. There are even some really thought-provoking characters such as the bald cannibal shown on the box who has quite the trigger finger and a taste for blood, as well as a host of Vosloo's henchmen. In the end Arnold delivers an incredible performance and puts the action that "con"vinced me to buy this action flick back into the Vosloo name! Superb!

The film is OK. If it wasn't for Arnold Vosloo and the train scenes this film wouldn't have been a good one. Though I didn't think the nudity was needed but it seemed after that part the film really began. Vosloo put on a great performance and his Russian accent was really good. The other two villains were good and had big potential but the film never gave them a chance to be real bad guys. The music was really good and it could have been in a blockbuster film. Overall like I said the film after close to an hour or so the film really began after the nude scene with some good action especially the bald bad guy scene on top of the train. If you like Arnold Vosloo and train action then see this film soon!