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NEW YORK -- A new action star isn't born in "The Marine", which toplines WWE superstar wrestler John Cena in the organization's latest attempt to branch out into the big screen. Playing John Triton, a former Marine forcibly discharged from Iraq -- for disobeying orders in order to save a group of fellow soldiers being held hostage by those nasty al-Qaida folks -- Cena demonstrates little of the charisma that has made him a star in the ring. The film opened Friday without being screened for the press.

An unrepentant B-movie, "The Marine" features the sort of bare-bones plot that would in previous years have served as a vehicle for the likes of Charles Bronson. Essentially, it boils down to a bunch of bad guys (and gal, played by the vixenish Abigail Bianca) who kidnap the hero's wife (Kelly Carlson, of FX's "Nip/Tuck") for "insurance" while they are being pursued by the cops.

Thus begins a relentless pursuit by the resolute, monosyllabic ex-Marine, which includes a good number of fights, both of the armed and hand-to-hand variety; car chases, including one in which the hero's car is essentially reduced to a frame with wheels; and amazing number of fiery explosions. Indeed, the sheer volume of conflagrations in the picture exceeds that of "The Towering Inferno" and "Backdraft" combined.

The film's saving grace are its fast pacing and generous doses of humor, the latter of which is mostly provided by Robert Patrick's sly delivery of the many wisecracks doled out by his villainous character. Requesting that the bystanders in the robbery avert their eyes, for instance, he claims to have "severe intimacy issues." And his deadpan reaction when one of his cohorts compares the unstoppable hero to the Terminator is priceless.

Otherwise, the film is strictly by the numbers, with director John Bonito (a veteran of television commercials, naturally) making sure to provide the requisite number of shots in which the actors advance in slow motion while pretending to ignore the apocalyptic explosions taking place just behind them.

NEW YORK -- A new action star isn't born in The Marine, which toplines WWE superstar wrestler John Cena in the organization's latest attempt to branch out into the big screen. Playing John Triton, a former Marine forcibly discharged from Iraq -- for disobeying orders in order to save a group of fellow soldiers being held hostage by those nasty al-Qaida folks -- Cena demonstrates little of the charisma that has made him a star in the ring. The film opened Friday without being screened for the press.

An unrepentant B-movie, The Marine features the sort of bare-bones plot that would in previous years have served as a vehicle for the likes of Charles Bronson. Essentially, it boils down to a bunch of bad guys (and gal, played by the vixenish Abigail Bianca) who kidnap the hero's wife (Kelly Carlson, of FX's "Nip/Tuck") for "insurance" while they are being pursued by the cops.

Thus begins a relentless pursuit by the resolute, monosyllabic ex-Marine, which includes a good number of fights, both of the armed and hand-to-hand variety; car chases, including one in which the hero's car is essentially reduced to a frame with wheels; and amazing number of fiery explosions. Indeed, the sheer volume of conflagrations in the picture exceeds that of The Towering Inferno and Backdraft combined.

The film's saving grace are its fast pacing and generous doses of humor, the latter of which is mostly provided by Robert Patrick's sly delivery of the many wisecracks doled out by his villainous character. Requesting that the bystanders in the robbery avert their eyes, for instance, he claims to have "severe intimacy issues." And his deadpan reaction when one of his cohorts compares the unstoppable hero to the Terminator is priceless.

Otherwise, the film is strictly by the numbers, with director John Bonito (a veteran of television commercials, naturally) making sure to provide the requisite number of shots in which the actors advance in slow motion while pretending to ignore the apocalyptic explosions taking place just behind them.

THE MARINE

20th Century Fox

WWE Films

Credits:

Director: John Bonito

Screenwriters: Michell Gallagher, Alan McElroy

Producers: Joel Simon, Kathryn Sommer Parry, Jonathan Winfrey

Executive producers: Vince McMahon, Matt Carroll

Director of photography: David Eggby

Production designer: Herbert Pinter

Editor: Dallas Puett

Music: Don Davis

Cast:

John Triton: John Cena

Rome: Robert Patrick

Kate: Kelly Carlson.

Running time -- 91 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...