Plot: John Shaw (Dean Ambrose) isn’t one of the more popular detectives in his precinct, thanks to his renegade attitude and a recent incident that resulted in another officer’s death. That situation led to a suspension, but Shaw is back and he soon discovers some evidence about his ex partner Burke (Roger Cross). This evidence makes it clear that Burke is corrupt and the issue doesn’t end with him, but runs deeper throughout the entire station house. But his reputation doesn’t help him find allies and soon, Burke realizes what Shaw has learned and begins an assault to silence his ex partner, once and for all. Low on ammo and hunted by Burke and his crew, can Shaw survive the assault and bring the corruption to light?

Entertainment Value: Lockdown wasn’t written as a 12 Rounds sequel and it shows, as the movie veers from the formula in the first two installments and uses a more generic action movie approach. I think the cat & mouse chase element is in still in place, more or less, but the premise of solving a series of challenges has been removed. The end result is a passable, if generic small scale action movie, so it isn’t bad, just not that memorable or even fun. The resources were likely quite limited for this sequel and it shows, with low end stunt sequences and a lot more filler than the previous films. I think this could have been balanced out by dialing up some of the wilder elements, such as more colorful characters, over the top dialogue, and a tuned up villain, but 12 Rounds 3 lacks all of those traits. The performances aren’t terrible, but they’re about as basic as it gets and don’t really hold your attention, which doesn’t make much sense given Dean Ambrose’s manic wrestling persona. I can’t give this one a strong recommendation, but fans of the series or DTV action flicks might want to give it a chance.

I was surprised how generic Dean Ambrose is in the lead here, as I was certain he would be a lot of fun as the loose cannon style cop. I don’t know if he was asked to rein in his persona or if he just wanted to give a serious performance, but while he is competent, it is a dull effort. The material doesn’t exactly shine, but if Ambrose had brought even just a fraction of his “lunatic fringe” character into Shaw, we would have had a colorful and fun lead to watch. Instead, he just seems to go through the motions and that is a shame, as this one needed all the help it could muster. A good villain helped the original 12 Rounds, but this sequel winds up with Roger Cross, who again is fine, but fails to spark much of an impression. I think Cross could have punched up the part a little to make more of a mark in the role, but he settles on a mediocre overall effort, perhaps due to disinterest in the generic material. The cast also includes Lochlyn Munro, Daniel Cudmore, Rebecca Marshall, and Sarah Smyth.

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