12 Rounds (2009)

It's Die Hard...
in New Orleans. In a weird twist of events this movie rips off Die Hard With A Vengeance instead of Die Hard. A villain plays a riddle game with a cop who's guilty for the death of a loved one sending him all around town or else he will blow something up. Some sequences are on the other hand directly inspired by Speed; A bomb on a bus, a trolley that can't stop and a high speed chase with a fire truck.

Is the main character an average Joe?
He's Danny Fisher, a cop played by WWE wrestler John Cena. So while playing an average Joe he of course isn't because average Joes aren't this big.

Sidekick?
Det. Hank Carver (Brian J. White) is his black partner, just like John McClane had Zeus the store owner in Die Hard With A Vengeance.

Any personal problems?
He and his girlfriend have a quarrel just before she gets kidnapped.

Is the lead character there by coincidence?
He is the target of revenge, so no.

Are there any friends or family in danger?
Yes, his girlfriend has been kidnapped and is at one point even seen strapped to a bomb.

What's at stake and why aren't the authorities doing anything?
The life of his girlfriend, and of course in a 'brilliant' twist taken right from Die Hard With a Vengeance, money. The whole kidnapping thing serves as a masquerade to steal lots of money. The authorities are doing something. They're helping Danny in every way they can but since he is personally addressed it's up to him to stop the villain.

Any charismatic villains?
Aidan Gillen plays the villain Miles Jackson. He gets to play with a couple of accents and has almost as much screen time as John Cena. They display his brilliance by letting him walk past a chess game on the street and help one of the two guys out by instantly mention a couple of moves which will result in a checkmate.

Is it any good?
It surprised me that it even was a theatrical release. Renny Harlin is a veteran action director who just so happens to have directed Die Hard 2, and it's his directing that brings some flair and slickness to the movie. But other than that the movie breathes DTV-quality and with an uncharismatic WWE-star in the lead who doesn't even take his shirt off they could've gotten a better lead actor also. You can read my review here.