What’s It About
A covert military task force tracks a mysterious energy disturbance at a secret base in New Mexico where experiments on alien technology are suspected of taking place. Once there, the team encounters an unknown being of extraordinary strength and speed who has the ability to control an army of mindless warriors.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
I recently discovered that this is the final installment of a trilogy. However, because this movie is incredibly terrible, I’ve decided to skip the earlier films in the series – Agent Intelligence (2017) and Agent Revelation (2021). In this movie, superagent Jim Yung, played by writer and director Derek Ting, is a secretive soldier tracking down an alien threat. There’s mention of an “ash” infection and a disruption in New Mexico involving extraterrestrial technology. Jim’s extraordinary abilities land him beside Colonel Green as they invade an abandoned base where Captain Lila Rupert is held captive. With the assistance of an A.I. “Organic” (portrayed by Chuck Norris), Jim carries out a critically important mission — or at least that’s what the movie attempts to persuade us through the extremely basic plot. Agent Recon begins with a failed raid and a helicopter crash that leads to the death of Yung’s mentor, Alastair. He had been experimenting with technology similar to Elon Musk’s Neurolink so they could copy his consciousness, which had been uploaded to the cloud, and implant it into an android body resembling Chuck Norris. Norris only appeared on set for a single day to effortlessly fire a minigun (parts of which are computer-generated), to the extent that Ting resorts to still photographs of Norris pasted onto previous scenes. I have never seen anything as low-quality or incompatible included in a movie intended for release that expects to receive your money, especially when its most prominent star could hardly be bothered to show up on set. Most scenes featuring Norris resemble incomplete stock photography meant to be temporary placeholders. The body double they filmed from behind a few times doesn’t even have Norris’ haircut, build, or bone structure. The action choreography does Agent Recon no favors, blurring everything with haphazard cinematography or sluggish performances by second-rate stunt performers. The exchanges lack impact as “alien” henchmen (extras in black masks) overstate their abilities; Jim’s supposedly superhuman adversaries are just men in dark jumpsuits with facial coverings rather than special makeup. No one demonstrates any personality, whether spouting generic military jargon or attempting to impress us with a few basic martial arts moves. They cross paths with Colonel Green and his team, Hardenand, who are searching for a missing unit led by Captain Lila Rupert, who you’ll be surprised to learn is the colonel’s daughter. She’s being held captive by Dr. Penn, who aims to exploit the alien’s power for his own gains. Regardless of where you look, the flaws in the film are unavoidable. The locations resemble forest paintball arenas constructed from plywood awkwardly shot from inside. As a result, you catch a glimpse of the lacking “details.” Gunfire effects are all animated, pixelating wounds and muzzle flashes like a 90s computer game. There’s hasty and makeshift, and then there’s inadequate and incapable. Ting’s third passion project only appears somewhat acceptable when he’s throwing punches or kicking, but the rest is worse than high school productions where generic tablets and random plastic pieces pass for advanced futuristic technology. What’s not a letdown in Agent Recon? Entire scenes are shot against digital backgrounds that can’t match old-school video game graphics. And believe me, Jim Yung has a fighting move that is similar to Ryu’s from Street Fighter. It’s both amusing and cringeworthy. Any world-building is incredibly unimportant since “ash” or “mana” explanations are pertinent maybe once or twice in the remaining (and excruciating) 80-ish minutes. Scene transitions consist of generic photos in Google stock background slideshows. Narrations are delivered without emotion or vocal rhythm as if it’s the actors’ first time reading a script. The list goes on and on. Agent Recon is unwatchable and doesn’t deserve your support.
OUR RATING – A LIFE-DRAINING 1