I can't believe I watched the whole thing. Characterization-stiff, standard veteran returns home, family murdered, standard very clichéd villains. Have seen similar characters in the bottom of a box of cereal. Action sequences-standard. No big action explosions, etc. Although that isn't really needed int his film. Friend of the good guy-standard, stiff, shallow character. Not like old days man, etc. I would have to say that this film is worth a miss. Even the lead character was somewhat unbelievable, he is hurt by the villains, does what is not expected. Don't want to say to much so as not to put any spoilers. I simply cannot believe I wasted an hour and a half.

Rockaway straight to video was GREAT! Nicholas Gonzalez is Trane a battle proved war veteran from a tough tour in Afghanistan back home in Queens the neighborhood that took out his family becomes his center of rage. He becomes hell bent on taking out anyone involved in crime. Crook brothers turn it up with no slow boring parts. Oleg Taktarov sets things off as a "redfella" leading a Russian crime family. The action looked good as any movie. I could be talking crazy but Nicholas Gonzalez was way more better than hot shot actor from Harsh Times.What it came down to me was how real the Crooks brothers kept it. They showed what Queens hard living is. Rent it or buy it you cant lose people.

"Rockaway" is not always an easy movie to watch. The brutality keeps coming, as the movie tells the story of a returning vet from Afghanistan who faces as much personal chaos in the States as he encountered at war. Nicholas Gonzalez plays Trane, the homecoming vet, whose wife and child were murdered in Rockaway when they got in the way of the local mob. The brutality is necessary, because the story (said to be truth based) can not take it easy on either the facts or its themes to be effective. Trane comes home to neighborhood warfare and economic desolation in an often overlooked pocket of America. One of his adversaries is a Russian mob enforcer played masterfully by Oleg Taktarov, depicting another Afghan vet who served in the Soviet Army. Taktarov's character Ivan is menacing, but the actor also makes him sympathetic as Ivan, like Trane, was psychologically and morally exhausted by war in the Middle East. Taktarov gets better with every role, and when he's on the screen, "Rockaway" delivers its messages with breathless impact.

I saw this flick on a screening ready to be put on straight to video and i must say i was really surprised by this one , I'm no fan of straight to video movies,but sometimes one pops up as entertaining and this was surely on of those. with a budget of 2 million and at first a simple story i was really surprised by the events in this flick , the acting was so so but not as bad as i expected but the special effects compared to other straight to videos was surprisingly good and i actually grinned here and there.The baddies are stereotypes but that really fits for this one.So if your tired of the forever hero one man army righteous movies , try this one because this one has a bit of an edge to it.