“Red Scorpion” is an action film that gets the action right but it doesn’t have a clue about anything else. If you like seeing trucks explode and numerous soldiers get gunned down then there are plenty of movies that can offer that as well as an all-round satisfying experience.

In “Red Scorpion”, a Russian secret agent (Dolph Lundgren) is sent into Africa to kill the leader of an alleged ‘terrorist’ group. When he gets there, he finds out he’s been fighting for the wrong side and then the script decides to give him an overwhelming amount of things to blow up.

Dolph Lundgren may physically be good in action films but when it comes to dialog, he’s pathetic. There’s a reason why he was good in “Rocky IV”; he didn’t speak all that much. I think like most of his work, this’ll be another film Lundgren will want to forget. He’s apparently a very intelligent guy but you would never know that watching his films. The other characters are really annoying and meaningless. Of course, there has to be something said about the seemingly endless goons that get shot to pieces in this picture. All I can say is that they do a good job of dying.

The action sequences are entertaining (except for the fact most of them have the same song playing over them). However, it seems they makers spent all their money on the action scenes because everything else feels really cheap. One thing people may criticise “Red Scorpion” for is the way that it portrays Russians but to me the film isn’t smart enough to know how to make a sensible argument anyway so what’s the point in paying attention to its politics? If you like “Red Scorpion” then you’re obviously someone who cherishes your shootouts much more than me. I like them but to me, they can’t be the only good thing in the movie. Lundgren fans, I’d stay watching “Universal Soldier” a couple more times.