Review of Simon Sez

Let's face it, nobody rents a movie starring Dennis Rodman expecting it to be "good". You just want some mindless, unpretentious entertainment, and on that level "Simon Sez" largely delivers. Of course, Rodman is not the first person that comes to your mind when you're thinking "action star", but thanks to the discreet (and sometimes not so discreet) use of wires, stunt doubles and rapid-fire editing, he almost pulls it off. But the show is stolen by a female martial arts expert, played by Swede Emma Sjoberg, who fights with style and confidence. Xin Xin Xiong, in the small role of the villain's No.1 henchman, also appears to be a good martial artist. What nearly ruins this film is the obnoxious, lame-brained comic relief from Dane Cook and the two monks/agents. If they had completely written off these three characters, made the villain a little less openly gay and given more screen time to the people who were actually good at serious action, this would have been a much better film. (**1/2)