The Marine

Plot

In Iraq, John Triton (John Cena) of the United States Marine Corps is closing in on an al-Qaeda hideout, where a group of terrorists are preparing to behead several hostages. Disregarding direct orders to wait for reinforcements, Triton attacks the extremists and rescues the hostages. The next morning, his colonel informs Triton that he is being honorably discharged for disobeying direct orders.

Home from Iraq, Triton finds it hard to settle back into normal life. He is fired from his job as a security guard for using excessive force on an employee's ex-boyfriend and his bodyguards. Triton's wife Kate (Kelly Carlson) decides the two need a vacation to help Triton adjust to his new life. Meanwhile, criminal Rome (Robert Patrick) robs a jewelry store with his gang: girlfriend Angela (Abigail Bianca), Morgan (Anthony Ray Parker), Vescera (Damon Gibson), and Bennett (Manu Bennett). Rome is in collusion with an anonymous partner, with whom he is planning on sharing the profits from the diamonds. On the run, the gang stops at a gas station where Triton and Kate have stopped. When two policemen arrive to buy gas, Morgan shoots and kills one of the officers, causing Rome to shoot the other officer while Angela kills the gas station attendant. When Triton reacts to Kate being kidnapped, Bennett knocks him out. Triton regains consciousness and gives chase in the policemen's car. The chase leads to a lake, where Triton falls out of the patrol car and into the lake, seemingly to his death.

Rome and his gang walk through a swamp to avoid the police. Kate tries to escape several times. Triton emerges from the lake to find Detective Van Buren, who is pursuing the gang. Van Buren denies Triton permission to pursue the gang, but Triton heads into the swamp anyway. After an altercation between Morgan and Vescera, Rome decides to kill Vescera. Rome gets a call from his anonymous partner, and Rome tells him that he intends to cut the partner out of the deal.

The gang arrives at a lodge and decide to rest there for the time being. Meanwhile, Triton is kidnapped by two fugitives who believe he is a police officer looking for them. He subdues them and tracks the gang to the lodge. He kills Morgan and Bennett then drags the bodies under the lodge, where he again meets Detective Van Buren.

Kate rushes out of the lodge, but Angela attacks and recaptures her. Meanwhile, Triton enters the lodge and finds himself face-to-face with Rome and his gun. Van Buren enters the room but points his gun at Triton, revealing himself to be the anonymous partner. Rome opens fire on Triton, who uses Van Buren as a human shield, killing him. Rome makes his escape and joins up with Angela and Kate before firing at a gasoline tank and blowing up the lodge. Triton makes a narrow escape, having been blown into the swamp.

Rome escapes in Van Buren's car, but abandons it due to a police tracking device. Angela seduces then kills a truck driver for his truck. Triton is arrested by a marine patrol officer, but steals the officer's vessel after handcuffing him. He races to the marina that is Rome's destination, jumping on Rome's truck, throwing Angela into the windshield of an oncoming bus, killing her and spilling the diamonds. Rome scrapes Triton off the truck by driving into the side of a building, careening through a warehouse, then leaps out just before the truck crashes into a lake. Triton then stumbles out, leaving Rome in the fiery warehouse, then rescues Kate, who is drowning in the truck. A badly-burned Rome returns and tries to choke Triton with a chain. Triton kills Rome by breaking his neck with the chain. The film ends with Triton and Kate kissing as the police arrive.

Cast

Production

The Marine was originally written with Al Pacino in mind for the part of criminal Rome, with Steve Austin as hero Triton. After Austin and WWE parted ways in 2004, Randy Orton was set to be the main character. Orton turned down the role because of his bad conduct discharge from the Marines in the late 1990s, and was replaced by John Cena. Al Pacino turned down the role of Rome due to the low salary offered. After Pacino turned it down, Ray Liotta was considered for the role of Rome, but Robert Patrick got the part instead.

Principal photography for the film was actually shot and completed in 2004. In order to cover for John Cena's absence from WWE events, a storyline was written after Carlito beat Cena for the WWE United States Championship, saying that he was stabbed by Carlito's bodyguard Jesús and was taking time off to recover.

Filming was done at Movie World Studios in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The Marine Base was filmed at Bond University. The part in which skyscrapers are shown is the downtown area of Brisbane, Australia. Other footage was shot in bush land surrounding Brisbane. The opening segment of the downtown scenes was filmed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Cena was approached by Vince McMahon to do the movie which he accepted for outside fame. On making the movie he said "I enjoyed the business plan, I didn't enjoy the experience".

Release

Originally planned for a January or February 2006 release, it was later moved to Spring 2006, then September 8 (which was changed because former professional wrestler The Rock's Gridiron Gang was released September 15). It was released to theaters on October 13, 2006.

Box office

In its first week, the film made approximately $15.1 million at the United States box office. In its first weekend, it placed #3 domestically. After a total of ten weeks in theaters, the film grossed $18.8 million domestically.

The Marine was at one time noted as being WWE Studios's most successful film, beating out its predecessor See No Evil, starring Kane, and its successor The Condemned, starring Stone Cold Steve Austin.

It would later be surpassed by The Call, starring Halle Berry and WWE wrestler David Otunga.

Critical response

The film received mostly negative reviews, holding a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 46 reviews, with the site's general consensus stating "Overblown in every possible way, The Marine is either so bad it's good or just really, really bad."

Home media

The film was released on DVD on January 30, 2007. It is available in "Rated" and "Unrated" versions. The Blu-ray version was released on February 13, 2007, with a DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 track and a 1080p HD transfer. The Region 2 DVD was released in the UK on May 7, 2007.

The Marine was the number one most rented DVD in its first week of release. By March 2007, it had made over $24 million in home sales and rental. Overall, the film made $30 million in rentals in the first twelve weeks.

Sequels

The film spawned four direct-to-video sequels: The Marine 2, featuring Ted DiBiase, Jr. in the main role, released on December 29, 2009, The Marine 3: Homefront, starring The Miz, released on March 5, 2013, The Marine 4: Moving Target, released on April 21, 2015, with The Miz reprising his role, and The Marine 5: Battleground with The Miz reprising his role of Jake Carter.