Actor Mario Van Peebles plays a cyborg with a
conscience in “Blue Tiger” director Norberto Barba’s“Solo” (**1/2 OUT OF ****), new science fiction
thriller. This ballistically
paced testosterone thriller recycles familiar plot elements from movies such as
“Universal Soldier” (1992), “Rambo: First Blood, Part II,” and the western
classic “The Magnificent Seven.”
Although “Solo” appears initially as little more than a derivative
African-American android opus, Barba has cleverly woven some traditional
philosophical ideas about appropriate human behavior into the strands of their violent
melodrama that goes beyond its cinematic pyrotechnics.
“Solo” opens aboard a U.S. spy trawler off the coast of an
unidentified Latin American country.
Army General Clyde Haynes (Barry Corbin of “My Science Project”)
introduces Solo, a $2-billion bionic soldier prototype designed as the ideal
military killing machine. According to
Haynes, Solo has no feelings and is ultimately disposable. Furthermore, Solo comes equipped with bullet
proof skin, infrared vision, and the amazing ability to intercept radio
messages during transmission. Despite
his formidable arsenal, Solo has been programmed with conflicting commands by
its designer, Dr. Bill Stewart (Adrien Brody of “Splice”) has failed to tweak before
the cyborg is sent into battle.
Colonel Madden (William Sadler of “Die Hard 2: Dead Harder”),
a battle-seasoned adrenalin junkie, heads up a commando team dispatched to
destroy an airfield that rebel guerrillas are constructing. The Americans slip in under the cover of
darkness, and Solo plants the explosives to blow up the airfield. While he is setting up the explosives, Solo
scans the area with his infrared vision and spots several noncombatants being
used as slave labor. Because these
civilians may die from the blast, Solo’s command directives prevent him from
following orders. When the android
decides to defuse the explosives, Madden triggers the remaining charges. Explosions and machine-gun fire erupt, and
the Americans scramble for their helicopters, deliberately abandoning their
robotic warrior. Solo receives a
messianic wound low on his left side that fires his power management chip. But that doesn’t keep our super-soldier protagonist
from grabbing onto one of the choppers as it lifts off.
Back aboard the trawler, Stewart removes the damaged
chip. He explains to Solo that the
android must switch over to back-up power until the chip can be replaced. This make the super-soldier just a little
less invincible. Meanwhile, a furious
Haynes and a vindictive Madden demand to know why Solo refused to obey
orders. Stewart explains that a glitch
occurred when Solo tried to resolve a discrepancy in his command menu. Madden wants to shut Solo down, but Haynes
decides to salvage their expensive prototype.
Solo intercepts the outgoing transmission and learns that Haynes wants
him reprogrammed. Solo consults his menu
of functions and learn that his prime directive is self-preservation. Before “Solo” fades to black, our android
hero learns that to act selfishly may be logical but is not appropriate human
behavior. Solo steals a helicopter and flies off to the mainland. Madden chases him and watches as Solo crashes
into a mountain. When Madden sifts
through the wreckage, he cannot find a trace of the wily cyborg. Solo managed
to survive the crash and has vanished into the bowels of the jungle.
A small boy from the village discovers Solo
resting in an underground temple and nearly gets bitten when a snake attacks
him. Solo goes on line on the spur of
the moments and grabs the snake before its venomous fangs sink into the
vulnerable child. Horrified, the lad
runs back to his village, but later returns with his father and the rest of the
village. When they find the considerably
run-down Solo, they believe at first that he is dead. The little boy demands they give him a proper
burial. At the church, he bad guy rebels
storm in, interrupting the burial ritual, and shoot up the church. Solo springs into action and single-handedly
wipes them out. The villagers reveal
that the rebels were forcing them under threat of death to clear an airstrip. Solo agrees to teach the farmers how to fight
if they will allow him to use parts from an old black and white, portable
television to recharge himself. At this
point, Peebles emerges as “The Magnificent Seven” stacked into one. They arrange elaborate traps around the
village, and Solo shows them how to use bows and arrows to lethal effect. When the rebels return, the villagers give
them a reception that throws them off-balance.
Back aboard the trawler, surveillance devices warn them
about a battle raging in the jungle.
Haynes orders Colonel Madden to lead in an elite unit of hand-picked
mercenaries to recover Solo. Madden
secretly wants to destroy the prototype.
If Solo performs well under fire, Madden fears that similar prototypes
may eventually replace career soldiers like him. He believes that his men can kill Solo
because the android is not only vulnerable but heavily damaged. Once he reaches the mainland, Madden cuts a
deal with the slimy rebels to ice Solo.
First, Madden fakes evidence so it appears that Solo has gone crazy and
torched the village. The Colonel
broadcasts deceptive images of a burning hut back to Haynes aboard the trawler
and he swallows the lie. As bait to lure
Solo out, Madden persuades Haynes to send in Stewart, who learns too late that
Madden duped him. Solo manages to rescue
his creator in a way that would make Indiana Jones envious. But Stewart is fatally wounded during the
escape. “I should never have left
college,” Stewart laments and hands Solo a rebuilt power chip before he dies. To divulge any other details about the story
would undercut the entertainment value of the movie.
“Solo” breaks no new ground for this specific type of character
or adventure film, but Narba stages the action well. Most audiences have seen everything that Solo
eventually learns, especially if they’ve kept track of Mr. Spock’s progress
over the years in the original “Star Trek” movies. If you enjoy fast-moving, well-crafted
actioneers, “Solo” is worth watching once.
