The 2nd (2020)

Directed by: Brian Skiba | 93 minutes | action, drama | Actors: Ryan Phillippe, Casper Van Dien, Jack Griffo, Lexi Simonsen, Richard Burgi, William Kat, Samaire Armstrong, William McNamara, Randy Charach, Jacob Grodnik, Chris Jai Alex, Gene Freeman, Tank Jones, James Logan, Nicole Reddinger, Christopher Troy

Ryan Phillippe? Wasn’t that the promising actor who stood out in films like ‘Gosford Park’ (2001), ‘Crash’ (2004) and ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ (2011)? Didn’t we also see in him a promising actor, an actor who – like Shia LaBoeuf for example – would eventually convince the critics? Well, that Ryan Philippe is back to square one with his role in the laughably bad ‘The 2nd’, directed by Brian Skiba.

The Story in a Nutshell: A group of radicals, brought together by the director of the CIA, seek to influence a Second Amendment lawsuit by Erin Walton (Lexi Simonsen), the daughter of a Supreme Court judge to kidnap. But they’ve counted out Major Vic Davies (Philippe), a former Delta Force Special Agent. When he shows up on campus to pick up his son Shawn (Jack Griffo) for a weekend in the woods, things go wild!

There are many things wrong with ‘The 2nd’. The action scenes are ridiculous, drawn out too long and simply unbelievable. Example: Philippe lying on top of a moving van and being fired on from the van. Not only do the ‘bad guys’ not hit him, he also manages to maneuver himself unscathed into the co-driver’s seat…

The acting is high school level. With of course also a dodgy-looking Russian, with that typical accent (!), as a member of the assembled bunch of radicals. Caspar van Dien also shows up (as the driver, leader of the radicals). He has also played better roles, although he seems to have evolved little since ‘Starship Troopers’ (1997).

What is further inconceivable is that son Shawn seems to have a lot of things going for him. In certain fight scenes, he is not inferior to the specially trained Special Agent in terms of techniques…

If you can make it to the utterly ridiculous scene at the Los Angeles harbor where Erin and one of the bad girls (literally!) clash (literally!), you’re in for a bargain. It is actually impossible to sit through this film completely, so much rattles and is wrong with it. The subtitle reads: “Family comes first”. You can only wholeheartedly agree. “Help, women and children first!”