Review by Jon Donnis
Panama is directed by Mark Neveldine and stars Cole Hauser and Mel Gibson, and is your latest action thriller to enjoy.
Cole Hauser leads as James Becker, a depressed ex-Marine, he suffers with survivors' guilt after the death of his wife. Every day he gets drunk and visits the grave of his dead wife.
One day Becker is approached by Stark a defence contractor played by Mel Gibsob, he thinks it is time for Becker to get back on the proverbial horse, and hires him to travel to Panama to complete an arms deal, and connect with Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega.
Becker eventually finds himself in a casino, in a hotel room with a sexy woman, mixing with drug cartel folk, and eventually leading into countless shootouts and a big climatic ending.
A relatively short film at around 90 minutes, Cole Hauser is convincing as Becker, and Mel Gibson who appears in the film less, is enjoyable in almost anything he does.
The film is well shot, the action scenes are believable, and we even get some interesting hotel room scenes, which although gratuitous, are a reminder of the action films of the 90s.
I also love the Mel Gibson narration throughout, just so cool.
The Good
Simple, well made action films don't come around that often, and I enjoyed Panama, it ticked the boxes for what I expected and what I wanted in an action film.
The Bad
Some scenes are dialog heavy, and sometimes I felt that some parts of the film dragged.
Overall
This film will do more for the career of Cole Hauser than Mel Gibson, and is perfectly fine Saturday night type viewing for any action thriller fan.
I score Panama a fair 7/10
Out now on digital at https://amzn.to/3DxH7wD
