HELLBINDERS (2009)

I wanted to like this film because it was different. Unfortunately, being different is not enough.

The plot: An army of demons, based in the City of Angels (they never call it Los Angeles), prepares to open the gates of Hell. Opposing them are three assassins who join forces to prevent the coming apocalypse. There's Cain (Esteban Cueto), the centuries-old surviving member of the Knights of Templar; Ryu (Johnny Yong Bosh), a young Japanese warrior who has been reincarnated numerous times because he keeps messing something up; and Max (Ray Park), a British-born mercenary who lost his soul when he spent 20 minutes dead after he botched a job and was shot several times.

The film presents itself in the style of a graphic novel—a bad idea that calls attention to the strong possibility that HELLBINDERS would have worked better in that format. The action sequences are well-choreographed but unmemorable. The film's opening fight, set in Biblical times, went on much longer than it needed to. The non-action scenes felt never-ending. The three leads are frustratingly weak, delivering their lines in a style that one might call understated, but which felt like sheer laziness (or boredom) on the part of the actors. There are gobs of religious mysticism and talk of ancient demons, clans, warriors, and destiny. I usually enjoy that kind of thing, but from these nominally talented actors, it just made me drowsy. The CGI effects are OK but, like the fight sequences, nothing special. Finally, the gallons of blood spilled here never look like anything but red paint.

At best, HELLBINDERS is an average film that feels considerably longer than its 87 minutes.