This is my third attempt at trying to review this movie. The first two created an immense writer's block halfway through the first paragraph. Not because I didn't have anything to say about the movie, but because it was so bad, I didn't know how to say it politely. There is no way be polite about it I guess, this movie sucks big time.

The front cover of the movie shows the main character (played by Don "the Dragon" Wilson) on the run and being chased by silver bullets. The back cover gives a brief plot overview:

" An unwitting tourist (Don "The Dragon" Wilson)becomes a target of the police, terrorists and spies. Framed for murder, he must fight to discover the truth before it kills him...before he becomes a Moving Target."

In all reality, the plot overview should have sounded something like this:

Totally inept kickboxer comes to Ireland to meet online love, buys beer with top secret detonators in it and then gets chased by even more inept terrorists who want their beer back. He and his friends get captured, escape and live happily ever after.

Now that I've dealt with the whole plot thing, I can go on to talk about the actors. I've seen movies where the story and the production were so well done that I could easily overlook the bad acting. I've also seen movies where the acting was superb, but the story and/or production was really bad. I can get over that too.

But this is the first movie I've watched where acting, storyline and production were so terrible that it took me several attempts to even finish watching this.

The "action" scenes are pretty bad. There are some kickboxing scenes, but they look staged and chopped up. Special effects are pretty much non existent. Just a really whimpy car chase, and "chase" is not even the right word. More like one car driving a bit fast and another trying to keep up. I drive faster than that when I try to get home in rush hour traffic.

There are some pretty severe errors in this movie. During a car chase, the car that chases the main character is a totally different model then the one that eventually crashes during the chase.

The movie plays in Ireland, yet the vocabulary is distinctly American. "Gasoline" I believe is known as "Petrol" in the UK and Ireland. And "Ma'am" isn't commonly used in Ireland or the UK either. At least it wasn't when I was last there.

And then there is the stereotyping. All women in this movie, with the exception of Police Inspector Brady, have red hair. And Brady looks like she's wearing a really bad wig.


The main character, Don Wilson, is the star of over 30 Movies. He is, in real life, a kickboxing champion, yet none of this translates into this movie. He has neither the boyish charm of Jean Claude VanDamme, nor the effortless talent of other martial arts actors like Bruce Lee.

The supporting cast fares not much better.

Eileen McCloskey, who in real life is quite beautiful, is portrayed as a somewhat simple Irish woman who wears dowdy dresses with black socks and really ugly shoes. Okay, I'm a woman, I notice these things. Interestingly enough, she is not listed as ever having appeared in this movie on the IMDB site. I double checked the credits in the movie and it's definitely her. Hollywood.com lists her as having appeared in Moving Target.

Hillary Kavanagh plays "Shannon", McKlosky's best friend. She doesn't have her first scene until almost two thirds through the movie and it quickly becomes apparent that her talent is better used in the children's films and "B" Zombie movies she has previously acted in.

Lisa Dwan (a/k/a Lisa Duane) plays a very minor role as a kickboxing terrorist. To tell you the truth, she looks much better doing it than Don Wilson.

Nuala Kelly (Angela's Ashes, The Missing Link), portrays Police Inspector Brady. Her acting talent is completely hidden behind stupid lines like "Oh, still warm" when another member of the police force carries her tea tray to the scene of the crime.

Most of the male characters are portrayed as hard drinking simpletons that couldn't fight their way out of a paperbag. Thankfully they get killed fairly early in the movie and the ones that don't get a dose of Don Wilson's kickboxing talent.

The final scene of the movie is also equally inane. Finally rid of their captors, Wilson, McCloskey and Kavanagh celebrate their triumph at the Beach. Where Wilson and McCloskey fall into a passionate embrace and Kavanagh looks on.

This movie was released in 2000, one year after Don Wilson revived his kickboxing career. It is , in a way a re-make of one of the "Bloodfist" Movies, I can't remember which one though. Except for this time the detonators were hidden in beer, not chocolate.
While the whole Bloodfist series was pretty funny, Moving Target is not even that.

Directed by Bob Ziller (Stargate: Atlantis and some of the Highlander Movies) and produced by Roger Corman (Dangerous Curves, Inferno), this movie should have set much higher standards.

The only thing that makes me gives this a half a star are the beautiful locations in Ireland it was filmed at.

I checked the IMDB for it's internal rating and Moving Target has received a dismal 2.8/10. I fully agree with that.







Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age