It almost becomes a running joke throughout Section 8 that the “elite squad” of the title consists of morons who have no idea what they are doing. This includes the protagonist, a military man who loses everyone dear to him in a matter of moments and pledges vengeance, only to be drawn into an ultra-covert government program recruiting assassins. One cannot imagine an elite group of anything would want to hire Jake Atherton (Ryan Kwanten), the beleaguered hero of the film, who is impulsive and quick to anger – unless screenwriters Chad Law and Josh Ridgway need him to be a straight-shooter (pun entirely intended) and beyond reproach in the matter of justice and ethics. Indeed, the movie toggles at random between the character’s philosophies of violence.
In the opening sequence, set five years before the main action for no discernible reason, Jake is on a mission in the Middle East, under the supervision of his commanding officer Tom Mason (Dolph Lundgren). There, he screws up a mission in a major way, leading to an explosion from the improvised device set up by the local regime and several deaths among his unit. In the present, he suffers from a posttraumatic stress disorder, held at bay by his comfortable life with wife Ashton (Kimi Alexander) and son Weston (Noah Alexander Sosnowski). All that changes when Fresh (Robert LaSardo), a local gangster, murders his wife and son, seemingly following a minor disagreement between him and Jake about money owed.
Jake, of course, takes matters into his own hands almost immediately, following Fresh to a bar (it’s more than a little disconcerting when director Christian Sesma cuts unceremoniously from Jake’s grief to ogling a stripper) and quickly dispatching him and his men. This lands him in prison, where, several months later, the mysterious Ramsey (Dermot Mulroney, whose forceful performance is at least consistent) shows up with an appealing offer: become a member of his squad Section 8 and say goodbye to his prison sentence. There is a probationary period, of course, and his first missions (which include a corrupt Mexican official and a bloviating American politician giving a speech about “taking America back”) must go well before Ramsey considers implementing any solution to Jake’s legal troubles.
What follows is a series of far too predictable “revelations” about the real reason behind Ramsey’s offer and another series of “twists” that loop in and around each other to such a degree that we end up right back to where we started – which, of course, is a place of caring not a single iota about any of this. It’s all just an excuse for a series of dull action sequences, pumped full of bloody violence and not much else. Ramsey has a few henchmen, with the two most prominent being played by Justin Furstenfeld (the frontman of Blue October, making his inauspicious acting debut), as the bloodthirsty Ajax, and Tracy Perez, as the inconsistently understanding and brutal Mueller. He also may or may not have a surprise turncoat within Jake’s circle of trust, which, in addition to an utterly wasted Lundgren, includes a visibly bored Mickey Rourke as his adoptive father Earl.
The best element of Section 8 has almost nothing to do with the main plot, which barrels forward with unceasing momentum until details and combat scenes just become a shapeless blur. That would be Locke, a hitman hired by Ramsey with no scruples about killing anyone in his path, played by Scott Adkins as if he only read his own scenes and was under the impression the rest of it was as squeamishly fun. Everything comes down to a fight between Locke and Jake, of course, which in turn leads to the least believable outcome in recent action-movie history. The sparring match has choreography and brutality in its editing, and it’s a shame that the movie comes to life just as it’s about to end.
Photo courtesy of RLJE Films
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