12 Rounds (review)

Oh sure, that “WWE Studios” thing? I think the sound guy’s kid made that up. There ain’t no such thing. Absolutely, that’ll be Paramount or Universal -- some real studio. We’re gonna fix that. And I guarantee, it’s not really gonna be John Cena: he’s just standing in for the real star. Definitely. It’s gonna be Christian Bale or Matt Damon or maybe even like a Hugh Jackman -- definitely someone as charismatic as he is athletic. I hear ya, man. I guarantee you, it’s not gonna be Cena. Nice guy, but, you know... Well, right: Even Bale will smile more than this guy does. But we’re gonna fix that. It’s gonna be great. You’re gonna love it.

No, that’s one thing we’re totally keeping: New Orleans! Awesome tax breaks for shooting there, plus it looks like hell, man. It’s looks awesome onscreen, what a disaster the Ninth Ward is. What’s that? Oh sure, we got some pretty shots of the touristy areas, all right -- there’s a bit with one a them quaint cable cars that you are gonna love! -- but audiences are gonna eat up the collapse-of-civilization porn. You’ll see.

Yeah this bit here is pretty much right outta Lethal Weapon... Right! The bit where Riggs runs down the car on foot. We’re gonna fix that, don’t worry, it’s all gonna be perfect in the real thing. It’ll be more like an homage than just lifting it -- this is just so you can get an idea what it’s gonna look like. You’re gonna love it, I promise.

Oh, yup, and the part with the bus. Totally outta Speed. Audiences like that. They like feeling that they’re part of the process. But we’re gonna fix that. It’s gonna be great.

Right, Renny Harlin -- just a seat filler. You’ll see. We’re gonna get Tony Scott or maybe a Doug Liman -- it’s gonna be great. It’s gonna be very exciting... Excuse me?... Yup, you’ll see when we do all this for real, all the stuff here that looks like it’s supposed to be exciting will really be exciting. This is all just to give you an idea of what it’s gonna look like when we do it for real. You’ll see. You’re gonna love it, I promise.

Yup yup, the terrorist arms dealer bad guy does feel like a cartoon, but we wanted you to feel the bigness and the meanness of him. Say again?... Oh, sure, it’s completely ridiculous that he could escape from prison... Yup yup, I hear your concern. There’s no freakin’ way he could have gotten the Cena cop’s wife bound and gagged and into the backseat of his car in broad daylight in a busy public place. This is all just a marker for the real thing. We’re gonna fix that. You’re gonna love it. It’s gonna be great.

We kinda like Ashley Scott as the wife. We may keep her. It’s not like it really matters, anyway. She’s just the maguffin to keep the hero moving, cuz the bad guy has kidnapped her and all. But you know, she’s pretty. She’s blond. We’re not gonna kill the dog -- that would just be mean -- so we need her in jeopardy. It’ll all make more sense when we get Bale or Jackman or whoever why she’s with him in the first place. It’s gonna be great.

No, we’re gonna fix the villain. He’s gonna be like an Alan Rickman but we don’t wanna go too Alan Rickman-y since the whole thing is already very Die Hard with the lowly cop and the diabolical mastermind going head to head. And you know what Rickman is like, am I right? We’re thinking maybe David Tennant... yeah he’s this up-and-coming British guy we’re trying to woo to Hollywood, and we’re thinking we can get him cheap probably, but -- whoo! -- what till you see his chops, man. He’s gonna be great. You’re gonna love him. This Aiden Gillen guy... nice guy, real sport about standing in till we cast the part for real. But, you know...

Right, it’s totally a problem with the script. And we’re gonna fix that. It’s gonna be amazing. You’re gonna love it.