Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil

You know when some big-budget film later gets direct-to-video sequels trying to capitalize on the fame of the original? You could probably name at least a dozen. “Behind Enemy Lines” is no exception as you can see. Personally, I’ve never seen the original big-budget film, and I don’t intend to because it doesn’t interest me. So you’ve got “Behind Enemy Lines” with Owen Wilson, and you’ve got two B-film sequels. Guess which interests me the most?

I was a little bored and so I’ve decided to have me an action night and watch “Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia” and “Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil” back-to-back, in that order though since I was more interested in “BEL: Colombia” because of Mr. Kennedy starring in it.

Well, as the title suggests, we follow a team of NAVY Seals deep behind enemy lines in North Korea. The film actually depicts possible theory for the real life event of a mushroom cloud that appeared in North Korea in 2004. (I wasn’t aware of this until now, to tell the truth) As for the “Axis of Evil” sub-title, I guess they put it because any word containing an “X” sounds cool. At least it’s not spelled “4xXx!Z”.

“BEL: AoE” had a higher budget than “BEL: Colombia” (at least it seems so) and it’s certainly more dramatic and action oriented than its successor. The camera movements are very dynamic and fast, and in some scenes, especially the first shootout, can get a little too shaky for my taste. There’s a small piece of music that totally reminded me of an excerpt from the “Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater” main theme.

Pretty much everything said for “BEL: Colombia” applies here (and vice versa), and if you enjoyed either one, you should have no problems with the other too.

Rating: 7/10

- review by Ventilation Shaft