Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
When New Orleans Police Detective Danny Fisher stops a brilliant thief from getting away with a multimillion-dollar heist, the thief's girlfriend is accidentally killed. After escaping from prison, the criminal mastermind enacts his revenge, taunting Danny with 12 rounds of near-impossible puzzles and tasks that he must somehow complete to save the life of the woman he loves.
12 Rounds is a formulaic action-thriller that leans heavily on Die Hard With a Vengeance's puzzle-chase structure without adding meaningful originality. John Cena's lead performance is serviceable but lacks depth, and the supporting cast is equally unremarkable. The cinematography is competent for a big-budget studio action film with some decent New Orleans location work, but nothing distinctive. The villain's revenge plot is predictable and the 12-round conceit is gimmicky rather than cleverly executed. The ending resolves in a largely unsatisfying, by-the-numbers fashion. Overall it lands close to its modest reputation as a passable but derivative action vehicle.