Mark Dacascos has been a working actor going all the best way again to the early Nineties, and far of it has been in motion movies that make the most of his martial arts coaching, starting from “Cradle 2 the Grave” to “Double Dragon” to even headlining “Solely the Robust.” Ending up on a present like “Iron Chef America” is not something he ever envisioned for his profession, as he instructed The Ringer final yr, however the lifetime of a working actor by no means goes the best way they deliberate. Had he not gotten that half, he in all probability would have simply continued showing in mid and decrease tier motion movies at an awesome frequency. He is nonetheless accomplished this over time, however he might have been a Scott Adkins-type hero (who occurs to be in “John Wick: Chapter 4”) as an alternative of that man from the cooking present.

However it’s that profession swerve that makes Mark Dacascos so disarming and thrilling in “Parabellum.” He turns into a personality you are not positive what to make of your entire time he’s on display. Some will overestimate his talents, and a few will underestimate them. Some will acknowledge him from enjoying The Chairman and be shocked to appreciate that they need to actually be taking this character critically. Pitting a wild card like that in opposition to a film star like Keanu Reeves makes their struggle scenes unpredictable and elevates the stress, particularly whenever you understand he’s the ultimate struggle. And that remaining struggle has to come back proper after John Wick threw down with Cecep Arif Rahman and Yayan Ruhian, greatest identified for “The Raid” movies. You wanted a man like Mark Dacascos who had the gravitas and the ability to make Zero one of many sequence’ greatest adversaries, and he completely nailed it.