I took a few extra days off work this week, and with the forecast looking pretty swampy and not wanting to spend a ton of money, I decided to put my AMC A-List membership to the test by packing in as many movies as I could over the long weekend. First up was a film I hadn’t even heard of until two days ago: Afterburn. Directed by J.J. Perry and starring Dave Bautista, the movie promised the same sort of B-level, fun action as their previous collaboration, The Killer’s Game. I actually enjoyed that one quite a bit, even if it felt like the kind of movie you’d have randomly rented at Blockbuster back in the day.
“After a massive solar flare destroys the Earth’s eastern hemisphere, an emboldened treasure hunter for hire adventures to Europe to uncover the coveted Mona Lisa, only to learn the world needs a hero more than it needs a painting.“
The trailer for Afterburn looked fun – full of action scenes and set in a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic world – which is right up my alley. With Samuel L. Jackson and Kristofer Hivju also starring, I was honestly surprised I had never heard of it or seen a trailer before now. A little research explained why: the movie had been tied up in controversy after filming, with a financier allegedly trying to strong-arm his way into a director’s credit. Much like Knights of the Zodiac, it was a lower-budget production shot in Eastern Europe that seems to have been dumped into theaters quietly, maybe even as a tax write-off. Still, I had enjoyed Perry and Bautista’s last outing, so I figured this would at least be fun. Unfortunately, even that wasn’t meant to be.
Afterburn sets up an interesting world: a solar flare wipes out much of Earth’s technology, plunging society into chaos ruled by warlords and marauders.Bautista plays Jake, once a high-end treasure hunter now reduced to mercenary recovery jobs he hates. His dream is to soup up his prized boat and escape the mainland, but in the meantime he gets roped into a job by Samuel L. Jackson’s character, a self-styled warlord king who hoards human achievements to keep them out of rival hands. After retrieving a priceless Stradivarius violin, Jake is tasked with stealing the Mona Lisa from the territory of Volkov (Kristofer Hivju), a ruthless ex-Russian general. What follows are some creative and fun action set pieces, exactly what I expected from Perry and Bautista. The stunt work, explosions, and chase sequences are strong, and the costuming and location shooting do a solid job selling the war-torn wasteland.
The problem is the script. On paper, Afterburn has everything it needs – cool premise, solid cast, sharp action – but it drags under clunky pacing and weak dialogue. Bautista is left to deliver one-liners and forced comic relief, which quickly wears thin. A clunky romance plotline, or a hint of one, is introduced with a character named Drea, played by Olga Kurylenko, which never really gets of the ground, and honestly I’m glad that portion of the film never fully materializes since it would have been even more cliche.
At nearly two hours long, the film overstays its welcome, with the middle act bogging down at a glacial pace. Cutting it to a tighter 90 minutes would have helped immensely. The third act picks things up again, but by then the damage is done, and the film feels more ambitious than it’s able to handle. It’s not a bad movie, but it’s not a good one either – it’s just a movie.
I don’t regret seeing it, especially since my AMC A-List makes screenings feel “free,” but if I’d paid a full $13 ticket, I probably would have been annoyed. This feels destined to be a streaming title that happened to get a short theatrical release, likely due to contractual obligations. Perry clearly has an eye for composition, stunt coordination, and spectacle; he just needs a stronger script to elevate his work. If you’re a Bautista fan, I’d recommend checking out The Killer’s Game instead – it’s a better showcase for him and a tighter overall film. Afterburn isn’t without its moments, but I can’t recommend rushing to theaters for it. Maybe wait until it inevitably lands on streaming.
