‘MR-9: Do Or Die’ digital review

‘MR-9: Do Or Die’ digital review

If there is an action film that boasts both the almighty Frank Grillo and the wonderful Michael Jai White as part of the cast, then you can bet your bottom dollar I’m going to want to see it. 

Director Asif Akbar has several DTV films in his back catalog and has worked with plenty of actors who can also whoop some butt so the anticipation and expectation for MR-9: Do or Die was high.

Now, a caveat to this review is I had no prior knowledge nor affinity to the main character in MR-9: Do or Die, I didn’t even know the screenplay was based on a very successful and beloved 1966 Qazi Anwar Hussain Bangladesh novel Dhongsho Pahar, which is essentially their equivalent of James Bond. 

You don’t need to know any of the background, but a little like existing fans of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series who were let’s say disgruntled by the choice of Tom Cruise playing the hulking character, if MR-9 of the BCI (Bangladesh Counter Intelligence) happens to be close to your heart then you may have a very different opinion of this film.

Right up top, this is no Hollywood Blockbuster and one could argue there isn’t enough actual action for it to warm the hearts of die-hard DTV fans either. When you have actors like Grillo and Jai White, both of whom are extremely competent and proficient at various martial arts and can fake fight with the best of them, you are pretty much waiting for the scenes where they kick some ass and there is almost the bare minimum of this on screen. Now maybe that is because neither are the titular MR-9 and perhaps they are not meant to draw all the attention away from ABM Sumon as Masud Rana but that seems like a naive viewpoint. At the very least I was hoping for a Grillo/Jai White smackdown and when it came it was decidedly underwhelming which again was a little disappointing when you have two beloved action stars and know what they are capable of delivering.

That said, MR-9: Do or Die looks good, the cast do well with what they have and I imagine it was fun to make. It doesn’t have the set-pieces of a Bond but I imagine it had only a smidgen of its budget. It did seem to have a touch of not taking itself too seriously about it which again works when you’re 007 or Ethan Hunt but can be misconstrued when you’re a much lower-scale production. 

I enjoyed seeing Remy Grillo, Frank’s real life son and look forward to seeing more roles from him especially if he follows in his father’s very capable footsteps. 

I would definitely urge fans of DTV films to give it a go, especially if you’re a Grillo completist and it is also great to see a joint Bangladesh and USA enterprise. If you like your action with a lot more ‘action’ then the Indian Hindi language Kill from Nikhil Nagesh Bhat has some awesome and brutal fight scenes on a moving train and Monkey Man, starring and directed by Dev Patel, has some fantastic stunt work and choreography. But if you fancy something that is essentially a budget spy movie with some familiar faces, then MR-9: Do or Die will be right up your street, with the sequel already in pre-production.

MR–9: Do or Die is out on digital from 20th Jan 2025 (Plaion Pictures)