Part of me was intrigued before watching 'Check Point'. It sounded interesting with a great concept, but it did look like a not very well made, ridiculous and by the numbers film with not particularly good actors so there was a little apprehension. Saw 'Check Point' anyway out of curiosity, being intrigued by the idea and having been a lot of low-budget films recently (most not very good to put it lightly).

'Check Point' managed to be worse than expected, even with mixed expectations. It started off pretty badly, got even worse quickly and never recovered. It picks up marginally at the end, when it gets a little more eventful and wasn't as dull. Sadly that's saying little, it feels too late when that happens and the climax is badly bungled and clumsy.

On a visual level, 'Check Point' looked shoddy. Drab and simplistic, with haphazard editing, far from slick photography and very artificial-looking visuals on the whole. The scenery is one of the two least bad aspects of the film, but the low budget look of everything else in the production values makes it difficult to appreciate.

The sound is intrusive and obvious, making a waste of the other least bad aspect of the film (the music, which is a little more than the one-note, repetitive stuff it could have been) and the direction has no sense of atmosphere or pacing, nothing to be thrilled by and nothing much engaging.

Script is awkward-sounding and ponderous, with lines that do make one cringe. A lot of it is gibberish and juvenile, with a stilted improvisatory feel that shouldn't have made it past draft stages.

On top of that, the story goes through the motions with no tension, suspense or thrills, a lot of intelligence-insulting ridiculousness, implausibility and pacing so dull that it makes a reasonably short length much longer. It is very derivative and parts also felt incomplete. The action sequences are more preposterous and by the numbers than they are thrilling or fun. The terrible way they look also hinder them.

Characters are basically every stereotype in the book it seems and are one-dimensional caricatures with no likeability or development and with the inability to behave logically. The acting is very poor all round, even from those who have been in films for years and in roles they should have been perfect for.

In summary, very poor. 2/10 Bethany Cox

CHECK POINT is an action movie cheapie that feels one level above a typical indie movie. The sole thing this has going for it is an interesting cast in the form of lots of familiar characters in support, although their presence is negated somewhat by Kenny Johnson's laughably boring lead. The preposterous plot has some wannabe terrorists attempting to take over America from their little town; a bunch of ageing hard men fight back. The film is slow and drawn out, with embarrassing dialogue and the like; it's also surprisingly free of action until the last half an hour. Cast wise, we get strong turns from Bill Goldberg and Fred Williamson, both riffing on their well-established personas; William Forsythe and Tyler Mane added some creepy testosterone; a random Stephen Geoffreys cameo; Ricky Harris stealing his scenes with fun humour, and a bit part for the hulking Kane Hodder.

Roy (Kenny Johnson) is a former marine who lives in the streets of Port City (Wilmington, NC) Carolina. We get a brief flashback of his former life and wife. Note, the opening scene is not part of that flashback, but a plot spoiler tease that comes later. His brother (Bill Goldberg) lives in town and wants to help him. There is a terrorist cell beheading people on TV, something Roy gets to watch because mobs of people still gather at the local store and watch TV through a window. Roy is able to identify the unmasked killer and one of the victims which he believes is in Port City. Everyone thinks he is crazy.

This is a PLOT SPOILER paragraph, although I spare many details. About an hour into the film we get a long winded patriotic anarchy, overthrow the government type of speech that even sounded crazy to crazy Roy. Decommissioned Battleships don't move. It would take years to be able to get it to move under its own power and even if it was armed, fueled and ready, it is ineffective in modern times outside of a few unique situations. I love Marines, but they are not trained to operate a boiler and steam plant.

The film had some top "B" stars including Kane Hodder, Fred Williamson, Tyler Mane, William Forsythe, and Mindy Robinson to name a few. It also had a great soundtrack with top 40 rock tunes. They spent some money. Unfortunately the script was horrible. It was totally unbelievable with wooden dialogue. They have some kind of Marine dedication for the film, which is nice, except the film really sucked.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity. Mindy Robinson and Krista "rack pack" Grotte- cleavage only.