12 Rounds (film)

12 Rounds
Directed by	Renny Harlin
Produced by	Becki Cross Trujillo Mark Gordon Renny Harlin Mike Lake Josh McLaughlin Vince McMahon
Written by	Daniel Kunka
Starring	John Cena Ashley Scott Steve Harris Gonzalo Menendez Aidan Gillen Brian J. White Taylor Cole Vincent Flood
Music by	Trevor Rabin
Cinematography	David Boyd
Editing by	Brian Berdan
Studio	WWE Studios
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	March 19, 2009 (2009-03-19) (Australia) March 27, 2009 (2009-03-27) (United States)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$18,184,083

12 Rounds is a 2009 American action film directed by Renny Harlin and produced by WWE Studios. The cast is led by professional wrestler John Cena, alongside Steve Harris, Gonzalo Menendez, Aidan Gillen, Brian J. White, Ashley Scott, and Taylor Cole. The film was released on March 27, 2009 in United States theaters.

Plot

In a sting operation to capture notorious arms dealer Miles Jackson, the FBI assigns a terrorist named Samuel to play the role of buyer in exchange for his brother Joshua's freedom. Unbeknownst to them, Miles has cut his own deal with Samuel. The Feds see Miles call Sam on his cell phone, but cannot tap the line as Miles always uses encrypted phones. Miles arrives at the meeting place. Sam shoots Miles and has his men drag him to a van. Sam gets in the back with Miles, who was wearing Kevlar, and they drive off. The director of the sting operation, George Aiken, finds out that Joshua has been sprung from the safehouse holding him. Sam pays Miles, but he expresses disgust at Sam's lack of loyalty to anyone but his brother and kills him. Miles' girlfriend, Erica Kessen, waits for him with a getaway car.

Officer Danny Fisher and his partner, Officer Hank Carver, are dispatched to help the FBI. On their way, they look at Miles' record and see a surveillance video of him dancing with Erica. At a traffic light, Danny spots Erica. They pull her over and Danny tells her to pop the trunk. She complies, and Miles comes out shooting, wounding Hank. Erica drives off and Danny pursues on foot. He take a shortcut through narrow alleys and a house, losing his gun on the way. He pushes a parked boat into Erica's path and she crashes into it. Picking up Miles' gun, he orders them to freeze. They both run, Erica into the path of an oncoming SUV. She is killed instantly. As backup arrives and Miles is taken away, he swears vengeance on Danny.

One year later, Danny gets a phone call from Miles, who has escaped from prison. He says that he is close. Danny grabs his badge and gun and runs outside the house looking for Miles. Danny's car and house explode, throwing Danny to the ground. After he recovers, Miles says he is launching a game of revenge called "12 Rounds". The house, the car, and Phil (the plumber who came to fix a broken pipe) were "Round 1". Danny runs towards the ferry station, where his girlfriend Molly is.

Molly boards the ferry. Miles' henchman, Anthony Deluso, borrows her cell phone under a false pretext, preventing Danny from getting through. Danny reaches the station too late to stop the ferry. He commandeers a car and speeds towards the other side. On his way, he calls Hank, tells him what has happened, and asks him to call the Department of Transportation and have the ferry stopped at the station.

Danny and Hank arrive at the station, but there is no sign of Molly. He tries her cell phone and Miles answers. He has Molly tied up in the back of his car. This was "Round 2". Miles promises that if Danny does all that he says and lives through all 12 rounds, he will let Molly go.

For "Round 3", Miles will call a cell phone in 15 minutes. Danny and Hank must follow a series of clues to locate the cell phone. When Danny answers it, Miles says a fire has broken out in the New Orleans Savings and Loan; the fire alarm segues into Round 4. Danny has to get there and extract two security deposit boxes within 20 minutes. Hank has a lead on the man who helped kidnap Molly, and volunteers to look into that while Danny continues with the "game".

FBI Agents George Aiken and Ray Santiago approach Danny and ask about Miles Jackson. Danny is livid that the Feds did not tell him Miles broke out of prison, but agrees to work with them to get Molly back. The Feds tell Danny that Miles used a prison riot as cover to escape, and that this revenge game is a good opportunity to recapture him. At the scene of the fire, Danny runs in with the firefighters through the smoke-covered corridors, and they find the security boxes. Both have timers. Miles calls and says Round 5 has started.

One of the boxes is a bomb, while the other contains a clue to the next round. Danny has to get to the Nicholls Street Wharf. The bomb is set to go off in 7 minutes, and Miles advises him to use a firetruck. With a long way downstairs, Danny goes out the window, riding down a long spool of cable. He hijacks a firetruck and races through the streets. With less than 20 seconds to go, he reaches the wharf. A bell goes off from inside one of the boxes. Danny throws it into the water, where it explodes.

Danny has the bomb squad saw open the other box. Inside is a room key for the Hotel Monteleone. Cops, Feds and SWAT raid the room and find it empty, save a couple of Polaroids of a gagged and bound Molly. The Feds look at the security footage and see Miles holding up a sheet of paper which reads "WE ARE STILL HERE", and talking with a man named Willie Dumaine. Danny goes to speak to Willie. Willie shows him to an old elevator they took to the roof. As they ascend, a small charge fixed to the motor goes off, stopping the elevator. Danny tries to get the service phone, but finds a laptop there instead. He opens it and sees a video message with Molly and Miles, telling them they have 60 seconds to get off the elevator before it falls. Danny climbs through a service hatch and pulls Willie through. He tells Willie to take his hand as he climbs the shaft wall. However, the bomb on top explodes, sending the elevator and Willie plummeting. The crash pops loose a gas line.

Miles calls and tells him the clue to the next round. Danny follows the series of clues to a bus at Claiborne and Toulouse. He finds Molly on board, wearing a bomb underneath her jacket. Sitting nearby is Miles. He pulls out the wire Danny is wearing, but the Feds hear his voice and realize he is on the bus. Aiken orders snipers to take position on the overpass, accepting Molly's death as an acceptable loss for stopping Miles. Miles shows Danny that the bomb on Molly's chest is connected to a dead man's switch and handcuffs Danny to a bar. He gives him an envelope with a phone number as the clue to the next round. As they approach the overpass, Danny spots the snipers and pulls Miles and Molly down, just as they open fire. The bus grinds to a halt. Miles ushers Molly out and blends with the crowd. When Danny is freed, he tells the Feds about bomb. Hank shows up, and tells Danny he has located Miles's henchman, Anthony Deluso.

Santiago approaches and offers his help. Danny calls the number on the envelope. Miles tells him that there are five numbers inside the envelope, four for cell phones wired to bombs in different city locations, one to disarm all four, which are timed to go off in 60 seconds. Danny and Santiago start inputting the numbers as text messages. However, they run out of time so Danny dials one randomly. Miles answers and tells him that his call disabled Streetcar 907's brakes. Danny and Santiago drive off. Danny swerves in front of the streetcar, climbs on top, and tries to take out the power from the roof, but to no avail. He gets back in the car and drives towards a nearby power transformer. He and Santiago jump out as the car slams into the transformer, shutting off electricity for the whole neighborhood. Danny and Santiago then run along the streetcar, clearing people out of the way until it can slow to a halt.

In a welding factory, Hank finds Deluso next to an anti-personnel mine planted by Miles. The mine explodes, killing Hank and Deluso. Danny gets word of this from Aiken. Aiken tells him that he has been obsessed with catching Miles since a Stinger missile which he stole, and Aiken failed to recover, was used to shoot down a passenger plane. Aiken admits he had forgotten that his debt of honor is not about Miles, but about the people he has hurt and those he is going to hurt. Aiken volunteers to help find Molly. Miles calls and says that Molly's bomb can now only be disarmed by Danny's fingerprint. He tells Danny to pay a visit to Erica. Danny, Santiago, and Aiken get into a car and start for the cemetery.

On the way Chuck Jansen, another detective, calls Danny to tell him that all five numbers in the envelope were rigged to the streetcar. Moreover, Miles had cameras monitoring the elevator shaft and set off the bomb five seconds early. Danny realizes that Willie's death was orchestrated by Miles and not just a chance casualty. Santiago does a check on Willie and finds he had a second job as a Homeland Security guard. They think back to when the gas line came loose in the hotel. They evacuated three city blocks. One of those buildings was the Department of Engraving and Printing – the Mint. Recalling next the streetcar, they realize Miles was leading them to take out the power, and in such cases Homeland Security comes in to move the unprotected cash. Miles's grudge against Danny was only a cover for him to use Danny as a pawn in his scheme to steal this money.

Aiken tells Santiago to lock down the Mint, while he and Danny go after Molly. As they drive, Danny realizes Miles wanted him to use the firetruck so that he could later steal it, since only emergency vehicles are allowed through. He turns the car around, explaining to Aiken that Round 12 must be a wild-goose chase, since Miles needs Molly, a nurse, to help him escape.

Meanwhile, Miles, dressed as a security guard, uses Willie's card and a false name to gain entrance to the Mint. There he kills all the guards and dumps 100 million dollars in cash into the sewer. He emerges near the Hotel Monteleone, where the firetruck is parked. He uses the hose to siphon out the water and cash. He then uses Molly's ID card to get to a Medevac chopper on a hospital roof, transporting the money inside a bodybag. He tells Molly to pilot the chopper.

Danny and Aiken race to the hospital roof as Molly takes off. Miles shoots at them, wounding Aiken. Molly hits him with a fire extinguisher, giving Danny the opportunity to reach the chopper and leap on. He and Miles fight inside, while Molly flies. Danny disarms and defeats Miles, but he activates the touchphone-bomb and throws the switch away, leaving 30 seconds until it blows. Danny and Molly jump out into a terrace pool. Miles is left in the exploding helicopter.

Danny and Molly trudge downstairs, while Danny starts to tell Molly about the house.

Cast

John Cena filming on the set of 12 Rounds.

• John Cena as Detective Danny Fisher
• Ashley Scott as Molly Porter
• Aidan Gillen as Miles Jackson
• Brian J. White as Det. Hank Carver
• Taylor Cole as Erica Kessen
• Vincent Flood as Det. Chuck Jansen
• Steve Harris as Special Agent George Aiken
• Gonzalo Menendez as Special Agent Ray Santiago
• Travis Davis as Anthony Deluso

Prior to Aidan Gillen being cast, Al Pacino, Joaquin Phoenix, Kevin Bacon, and Sean Bean were all considered for the role of Miles Jackson.

Music

The score of 12 Rounds was composed by Trevor Rabin, who had previously worked with director Renny Harlin on Deep Blue Sea and Exorcist: The Beginning. He recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros. Studios.

Reception

Box office

The filmed opened at number seven at the box office. Gaining an estimate of $1.75 million in its opening day and $5.3 million in its opening weekend and a further $2,498,325 in other countries taking its worldwide total to $17,280,326.

Critical response

12 Rounds has received mostly negative reviews from critics. Some critics have noted the film's similarities to the 1995 movie Die Hard with a Vengeance. The film ranking website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 28% of critics had given the film positive reviews, based upon a sample of 61. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 37, based on 11 reviews.

Home media and unrated version

12 Rounds was released on DVD, VHS, Blu-ray Disc, and UMD with an unrated "Extreme Cut" of the film on June 30, 2009. In the first week, 12 Rounds opened at #1 at the DVD sales chart, selling 208,936 DVD units translating to revenue of $3.1m. As of July 2011, 581,834 DVD units have been sold, bringing in $8,884,292 in revenue. This does not include Blu-ray Disc sales/DVD rentals.

The DVD is a one-disc set that includes:^{[citation needed]}

• Rated and extended “Extreme Cut” of the film
• Commentary by Director Renny Harlin, Writer Daniel Kunka and John Cena
• Two alternate endings
• “Crash Course: John Cena Stunts” featurette
• “Never-before-seen Cena gag reel” featurette

Soundtrack

• "Feel You" – Crumbland
• "Ready to Fall" – Rise Against
• "12 Rounds Suite" – Trevor Rabin

External links

• Official website
• 12 Rounds at the Internet Movie Database
• 12 Rounds at Box Office Mojo
• 12 Rounds at Rotten Tomatoes