‘Mafia Wars’ is losing its battle as entertaining cinema

Former Superman Tom Weilling continues his descent into direct-to-home market action in his latest project, “Mafia Wars,” from Saban Films. Scott Windhauser writes and directs the film, which stars Cam Gigandet, Cher Cosenza, Chris Mullinax, Al Linea, Sidhartha Mallya, Alessia Alciati and newcomer Sterling Griffin.

Terry Jacobs (Tom Welling) is a recently paroled criminal who is placed on a high-stakes mission to earn some money to save his niece. He and six other men must go undercover to take down Griff (Cam Gigandet), the head of Italy’s most notorious mafia syndicate. However, things change on the first day when the other five are all killed. Now Terry must use all the street smarts to succeed.

As someone who grew up on Cannon films and other low-budget action films, I was hopeful about the potential of “Mafia Wars.” There’s nothing wrong with a mindless actioner, and as a fan of the director’s 2018 film “The Hurricane Heist,” I was optimistic despite the low budget.

Tom Welling, who was excellent in ‘Smallville’ and tried to shake off that role for years, is miscast here as Terry. His dialogue ranges from robotic to baffled and lacks the gravitas to suggest a man struggling with the twin devils of his past and the present dangers of his new life. His daring comes off wrong, as if this is someone who might be a criminal, but he’s just an actor struggling with the material.

Cam Gigandet is the basis of many of the film’s problems. As shown in “Never Back Down” and “Twilight”, Gigadet could always fool a bad guy, but he’s the mafia boss archetype with no weight. He’s a wet noodle and comes across as a forgettable cartoon villain. Both men can do better.

The script is filled with clichés: the loyal sidekick, the innocent love interest, and the creeping threat of betrayal, as if the writers went through a mafia movie checklist to include every possible cliché. The dialogue is full of stilted, forced lines and shouting. A third act plot twist involving one character is laughable and doesn’t play out as the writers hoped.

Moreover, the visuals try to evoke the romantic atmosphere of Bel Passe. The camerawork, however, is anemic – the camerawork is innocuous in the way that canned tomatoes are innocuous and not much else: it makes you grow old. Even the action scenes were weak. There is no moment of tension or suspense. Like every other part of the film, even the chases seem mundane. This movie is exactly what you would expect from a mafia themed slot machine game.

“Mafia Wars” is just another mediocre crime drama. There are wooden performances, a derivative script, unimaginative direction and a general feeling that even the most straightforward premise can be weakened by poor execution.

“Mafia Wars” is Available on digital and on-demand on October 11