Originally titled "Diablo," A man apart is the story of an DEA operative cop
named Sean Vetter (Vin Diesel) who along with his partner Demetrius Hicks
(Laurenz Tate) fight the war against drugs at the Mexican boarder. A major
cartel boss, after 7 years of undercover work, has been captured and imprisoned.
Unfortunately the celebration ends early as a new mysterious figure arises to
take control of the old cartel, who's name is only known as Diablo. Things take
a sudden turn for the worst when Vetter's wife is killed in a botched
assassination attempt made by this unknown figure. Sounds like a spoiler indeed,
but that's just the first 10 minutes of the movie as the plot thickens.
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The Buzz: When this movie was first announced 2 years ago, the title was
Diablo then El Diablo (mean the devil in spanish). It focused on the mysterious
figure who attempts to take over a major drug cartel after its boss was
imprisoned. But because of copyright issues (Blizzard Entertainment owns the
rights to the name for the PC video game "Diablo") the studio had to change the
title of the movie, which now focuses on the "drama" Vetter's character suffers
after his wife gets killed. This was the last I heard of the film until its
trailer late last year. Actually, this movies was made before Triple X was
released in theaters, so it has been completed for some time.
Nevertheless, the movie was a surprise for me when I saw the trailer. Having
said that, it was a nice surprise seeing another Vin Diesel movie coming out
soon, and it looked good too. But there was no hype surrounding this movie.
If you are a Diesel fan, you will enjoy this flick. His presence made this movie
decent. Supporting actors do a decent job, better than Triple X. But again, without Vin, I cant see this movie being entertaining. Word has it that if
this flick does well, a sequel will be made. A script was already being worked on
before filming for this movie started!
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The good: Vin Diesel (Sean Vetta). Again, much like Triple X, if you're a
big fan of him you will love this movie. Vin portrayed the kind of character
that most men would become if their wife had been killed: dangerous and on the
edge. If your looking for the same cool character in XXX, you will be a bit
disappointed since the character Sean is somber throughout most of the movie.
Still Vin handles this role very well and with much flavor; its hard to imaging
anyone else doing the character and getting the same results. The supporting
characters did a decent (although not outstanding) job as well. Larenz Tate,
Gino Silva, and George Sharperson all add some flavor here and there, but Tate
made no big impact as a costar. The pacing of the movie is also well done thanks to
director F. Gary Gray.
The bad: Despite the good performances, and pacing, the plot is a bit
weak. Although I couldn't predict what was going to happen next, when all
is said and done, the story is standard fare. You can probably predict what's
going to happen if you tired. And I don't know what it is about this movie, but
its missing something. Maybe the plot it too thin or that characters are too
shallow. But if Vin was not here, the movie would be very average. And that's
what keeps this movie "apart" from the best.
Should I see this flick?: This movie is entertaining and well done. If
your a Diesel fan, its a given to see this flick; although it wont dazzle you
like Triple X, its a much better movie in general. The rest of you may want to wait and
rent.
