ROGUE

(director/writer: MJ Bassett; screenwriters: Isabel Bassett/Mark Middlewick/story by MJ Bassett; cinematographer: Brendan Barne; editor: David Wigram/Andrew MacRitchie; music: Jack Halama/Scott Shields; cast:  Brandon Aurest (Elijah Dekker),  Philip Winchester (Joey Kasinski), Megan Fox (Samantha O’Hara), Calli Taylor (Chloe), Grieg Krieg (Mike Barasa), Jessica Sutton (Asilia Wilson), Adam Deacon (Zalaam). Ken Fok (Bo Yinn); Runtime: 105; MPAA Rating: R; producer: Dellon Bakker/Kwesi Dickson/Jay Taylor/Molly Hassell; Grindstone Entertainment Group; 2020-South Africa/UK)

“A low-budget action B pic, armed with explosions and concern for animal abuse in wildlife.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The English-born female fimmaker MJ Bassett (“Inside Man:Most Wanted”/”Solomon Kane”) directs a low-budget action B pic, armed with explosions and concern for animal abuse in wildlife. She co-writes it with her daughter Isabel Bassett and Mark Middlewick, based on her story.

Samantha O’Hara (Megan Fox) is hired to lead a team on an Africa mission to rescue the kidnapped by extremists governor’s daughter, Asilia Wilson (Jessica Sutton), who they quickly find with other caged captures in a human trafficking campsite. The Al-Shabaab jihadists captors give chase, as Samantha’s crew selects an abandoned farm as their new basecamp for the night. They also find a lioness (CGI) is killing what’s left of her team.

Fox surprises as a watchable action-heroine, in a film that’s paced like a video-game. The pic surprises by being more introspective and better executed than I thought it would be. It has true pity for the way animals and captives are treated. For those who love action pics that are good even though they are bad, this might be one of those watchable flicks.

REVIEWED ON 9/20/2020  GRADE: B-