STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits <br /><br />In his native Russia, Nick Cherenko (Dolph Lundgren- is this a sequel/prelude to Red Scorpion?) was a Special Forces Soldier with a wife and son until they were brutally murdered by Russian gangsters. After taking revenge on those responsible, with too many bad memories floating around he flees his homeland and goes to work in Los Angeles as a humble car mechanic. Until one day he is approached by a wealthy woman who's daughter has been kidnapped. She wants him to go in and rescue her. At first he is uninterested...until he learns the identity of the kidnapper, the head gangster he didn't manage to kill.<br /><br />As a director, Dolph seems keen to tell his stories from a more human, realistic angle than from a sensationalist, fantastical Hollywood sort of way. It's a gambit that will work with some and not with others, but I think both sides can agree he certainly has a flair for directing action scenes, and giving them a hard-edged, blood-soaked feel, which this film clearly shows.<br /><br />If you're looking for an undemanding, blood-thirsty action thriller, Lundgren-style, you've certainly got what you payed for with The Russian Specialist. ****