'The Base' is your typical dtv actioner with a familiar face or two, a capable b-movie director and so many moments requiring suspension of disbelief that you could run a train thru it. Smart story this is not. The action sequences however are mildly decent given its budget, but fans of Dacascos want to keep their expectations low.
Major John Murphy (Mark Dacascos) is tasked with retrieving a Mexican cartel boss, but of course the exchange goes south. Given new orders he's now to go undercover infiltrating a local military base as "Cpl. John Dalton" where the Sergeant (Tim Abell) and his unit is suspected of being dirty mixed up in the dope game.
Liking Dacascos is ultimately why I gave this a chance and he comes off decently getting to shoot his share of guns and engage in fisticuffs showcasing his martial arts ability. Tim Abell is the type of character actor who can play male leads in T&A flicks, psychos in thrillers or the bad guy in an action film like here as Sgt. Gammon and does so with ease although his character is fairly one note. There's an unnecessary female character which cues a predictable romance too.
For 2/3's of its runtime, 'The Base' is serviceable even if the story and execution is weak. There's nary an ounce of believability especially by the point a tank comes into play, but director Mark L. Lester keeps things chugging along. Things fall on a cliff at the end though, but flicks of this type were a dime a dozen once upon a day at your local video store. If you see enough of them they have a habit of blending all together somewhat.
