The Big Picture
- Pedro Pascal and Bruce Campbell deliver seamless chemistry and entertaining performances in “Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe.”
- The movie is a lightweight, enjoyable watch independent of the original series, with well-staged action and striking locales.
- Pedro Pascal showcases his ability to transition from easy charm to explosiveness, making his character’s volatile nature a highlight of the film.
Several years back, Pedro Pascal and Bruce Campbell starred in the same film, and it is a fun, humor-laced jaunt through the jungles of Colombia inspired by the popular spy series Burn Notice. Released in 2011, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe is a movie-length iteration of the Jeffrey Donovan-led show whose pulpy approach to intercontinental espionage is greatly enlivened by a keen sense of humor and the ever-sardonic Bruce Campbell in the lead as the wily Navy Seal Axe. ‘Commander’ actually. Pascal had a number of guest parts on popular TV shows to his name circa the release of the film, and his significant supporting part here serves as a prime indicator of the powerful screen presence he would consistently put to use in major productions years later.
Bruce Campbell and Pedro Pascal share several scenes in this taut action vehicle and bounce off each other seamlessly. The former’s penchant for physical humor is again on display (to a degree) for Ash Williams devotees – always eminently entertaining. While the ultra-versatile Pascal, who is set to unite with Ridley Scott on the much-anticipated Gladiator sequel and Barbarian director Zac Cregger‘s upcoming horror epic, is as engaging as ever in a substantial 2010s feature role. For diehards or casual appreciators of the show, and of the performers in general, The Fall of Sam Axe is well worth rediscovering.
What Is ‘Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe’ About?
The movie opens retroactively with Axe inadvertently engaging in an affair with a high-ranking military officer. Whoops. Admonished by said official, the square-jawed Seal is subsequently sent on a perilous mission to Columbia to investigate the potential threat of a terrorist group (Espada Ardiente) on its locals and beyond as a result of the indiscretion. There, he runs afoul of endangered villagers and a potentially suspect cadre of local law enforcement officers led by Commandante Veracruz (Pascal), questioning who the real threat is. In the present, Axe is being criticized and questioned by the skeptical Admiral Lawrence (John Diehl) about the goings-on in Columbia, and the events of his twist-laden mission are recounted via a swirling medley of deadpan humor and tangential spiels.
It all makes for pretty amusing fare even if the whole to-do is implausible. At first, the audience is led to believe Axe will be siding with the local cops and engaging in a fairly routine search rescue, and discovery operation. Still, a barrage of plot detours says otherwise. It’s told episodically and with pacy flair, well and truly in the spirit of the high-octane show which inspired it. And the show’s original star Jeffrey Donovan directed. He also cameos briefly as Michael Weston for a quick serving of repartee in a beachside bar before Axe fronts up to face the music and acquits himself of any wrongdoing.
‘Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe’ Puts Bruce Campbell Back in a Lead Role
Bruce Campell’s easy charisma is once again welcome in this starring role. The actor invariably brings a unique quality to the screen, a kind of self-aware, offbeat insouciance mixed with sympathy. Sam Axe was a secondary character in the original series, but he very comfortably carries the action here. It’s a standout role Bruce Campbell role in a long line of appearances. Faced with a cavalcade of dangerous scenarios, including exploding churches and trucks encased with fire, he is able to maneuver his way around each threat with a kind of pained realism.
There’s a decent amount of exposition in the flick as Axe befriends a determined local American doctor, wins the support of an entire town’s worth of initially skeptical locals, and eventually ignites an unlikely (eventual) romance with charity worker Amanda Maples (Kiele Sanchez), and Campbell is able to consistently add a degree of self-deprecating charm to proceedings. Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe moves at a brisk pace and is relatively straightforward in getting from A to B even with the handful of twists it contains, but it also never takes itself especially seriously which ends up being one of its key strengths. Navigating an endless series of needling questions by the sternly bureaucratic Lawrence, Axe is forced to constantly defend every decision he is forced to make on the fly (from allying with persons of interest and using football analogies and game plans to articulate attack plans) – the formulaic elements to the film are counterbalanced perfectly with the eccentricity of its star. Unconventional methods are aplenty.
What Makes Pedro Pascal’s Role in ‘Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe’ So Unforgettable?
Sam Axe initially allies himself with the amiable local law enforcement official Veracruz, but soon discovers that the apparently charming Commandante may be up to more than meets the eye. And he’s correct. Veracruz ends up being a deceptive, cunning customer – someone who uses his power to leverage the Espada Ardiente (who are in actuality only a humble but hardy band of shepherds and farmers) for his own gain. All smiles on the surface to disarm the initially unsuspecting Axe – Veracruz is a volcanic character underneath.
Three years after this film, Pedro Pascal would appear in Game of Thrones before, and his ability to leap from an easy charm to explosiveness is on show in this humble actioner. His character is ultimately volatile and manipulative, but the audience never gets a whiff of that from the opening. Pascal and Campbell share several scenes, and when Veracruz discovers Axe is aware of his true brutal agenda, the flip switches, and it’s immensely entertaining to watch. The cross-country chase that ensues rollicks along, and as Axe puts it, ‘the good roads are bad, and the bad roads are not really roads’. Headed to an off-the-grid ‘observation’ outpost manned by a pair of bumbling agents, it’s a movie where the destination is assured, predictable even. The journey is where the charm lies and the charm at its core is due in large part to the presence and on-screen chemistry of Pascal and Campbell.
‘Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe’ Is a Diverting TV Movie With Wide Appeal
Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe is slight but enjoyable, and the charismatic presence of both Pedro Pascal and Bruce Campbell add significant layers of interest for filmgoers keen on dipping into the back catalogs of each widely celebrated actor. One needn’t be too heavily acquainted with the series to appreciate it as a standalone yarn, and its pervasive humor more often than not lands. The locales are verdant and striking (it was shot on location in Colombia which Pascal would revisit substantially for Netflix via Narcos) and the action is well-staged. It operates within its means and while not particularly memorable, it’s a breezy jaunt and a solid vehicle for its stars. With Pedro Pascal continuing to wow audiences with his eclectic turns in an array of projects on the small and big screen alike (The Last of Us Season 2 is set to arrive at some point in the future) it’s entertaining to watch the then-35-year-old ignite the screen in a kind of hybrid of the two mediums in Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe.
