Billy Tepper is the leader of a group of rebellious boys at The Regis School. He has already been expelled, from three prominent private schools. Billy, all their friends and many other kids at the school have very influential and prominent if more law-abiding, parents. His best friend, Joey Trotta, for instance, is the son of the Head of the New York Mafia. When terrorist, Luis Cali's father is put in jail, he heads for the school to put the son of the judge in charge of the case under hostage, only to find he has been removed. However, once he realises who the parents of the rest are, he decides the entire Regis School would be an even better bargaining chip. Toy Soldiers was one of those movies that came as a pleasant surprise. I had no idea of what to expect going in as I had seen nothing or heard anything about it, but was extremely intrigued and I saw many recognisable cast members. I had gauged that this film followed a bit of a Die Hard (1988) inspired vibe which seemed quite heavy in the 90s for some reason with films like Under Siege (1992), The Rock (1996), Con Air (1997), etc and many Die Hard sequels of course. Each one took inspiration from the idea of terrorists taking over 'blank' for such and such. They all put a spin on the idea, mainly with a new location to take place on from a battleship to an island, plane or in this case, a school and instead of a massive action hero-style figure thrown into the mix of a conflict, it's a school boy. Whilst taking influence from the other products, Toy Soldiers manages to feel different. It takes on its own style becoming in itself unique, and I love it for that. We follow a group of boys from the exclusive school and their introduction best displays their nature going forward as they play pranks and graffiti over the 'Regis' on the sign to 'Rejects'. These kids are troublesome, like the risk and danger but especially have difficulty with any authority, which only sets them up for their inevitable fight against the imminent terrorist threat. One teacher, Dean Parker, however, takes it upon himself to accept the challenge of making sure these kids graduate despite their mischievous actions or misbehaviours, especially Billy. Billy is our main protagonist and the ring leader of the miscreants causing the most pranks and rebellious nature in the school. Whilst it has gotten him kicked out of several other schools and has caused him trouble in this one, this time it is the much-needed quality that will not only save his life but the other 91 hostages. Once the terrorist group arrives led by the ruthless Luis Cali, Billy is launched into a frantic battle for survival aided by his friends, Joey, Snuffy, Ricky and Hank. Each member of this group of friends really comes together, each bringing a special skill or talent to the mission at hand like, for example, Joey sketching the faces of the terrorists to deliver to the outside FBI, army forces and Dean who works endlessly to ensure the kids return to safety. Working together using their ingenuity they can accomplish leaps and bounds in many field areas from finding escape routes, synchronising their actions to distract guards and gathering information to deliver to the outside forces waiting at the border. Unfortunately, their efforts are prohibited by the strict rules laid out by Luis, especially the one where they must all return at the bell every hour to be counted and if one person is missing, five people will die. Luis and others don't mess around as their horrific tendencies carry over to their occupation of the school as they fight off opposing forces trying to get in as well as their treatment of students who fail at following orders. I love the idea of kids fighting back against an evil force occupying their school. They really get their time to shine and make fools of the attackers plus there are some incredible action sequences in the film to admire with some fantastic thrilling segments to boot. Overall, Toy Soldiers is a gripping story that is full of highs, lows, explosive action, riveting drama and friendship. The cast is phenomenal and their characters are equally exceptional. If you love Die Hard or simply looking for a rollercoaster of thrills, then this is one to hop on to, especially since the whole film is free on YouTube.
.jpeg)
No comments:
Post a Comment