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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: July 27, 2010 Distributor: Lionsgate Director: · Fouad Mikati Cast: · Zach Galifianakis · Rob Corddry · Jeffrey Tambor · Ellen Barkin · Ving Rhames · Maggie Q Related Sites: · IMDb: Operation: Endgame Grade: C+

Looking over the cast for "Operation: Endgame" I found myself asking: How did they get so many big players to sign on for such a plotless film?

Not that there isn't plenty to enjoy in "Operation: Endgame," if you're one who gets a kick out of the comedic killing cocktail that has evolved out of the genre since Schwarzenegger did "Commando." But after a while, even the "last man standing" concept isn't a mystery. Director Fouad Mikati is definitely playing up the spy game for dark humor here, but at the expense of overarching reason.

Set on the date of President Obama's inauguration, with interspersed news footage of the event, the viewers are introduced to the Factory -- a black-ops group of psychopaths used for the deepest cover killing operations. Named after tarot cards, they are ostensibly led by the somewhat ineffectual Devil (Jeffrey Tambor) and divided into two teams -- Alpha and Omega -- for the undefined purpose of keeping the two sides in check. But when the Devil is murdered, Operation: Endgame is set in motion -- a complete lockdown of the subterranean facility for the purpose of killing everyone inside with a firebomb and destroying all the evidence of operations conducted under the old administration. As unstable personalities turn on each other, the killing begins in earnest, as the agents are armed only with the supplies they can forage from the office supply closet.

Zach Galifianakis ("Dinner for Schmucks") wanders the hallways as the Hermit, and is largely assumed to be the perpetrator of the Devil's murder. Meanwhile, the Fool (Joe Anderson, "The Crazies") is having the worst first day on the job ever as he's joined by his ex-girlfriend, Temperence (Odette Yustman, October Road) and the perpetually ill-tempered and drunken Chariot (Rob Corddry, "Hot Tub Time Machine") in a kill-or-be-killed quest for the secret code to open the hidden exit to survival. Until that time arrives, however, we watch Judgement (Ving Rhames) mutter catchphrases like, "It's Judgement Time!" (something the film does quite tongue in cheek, with the other characters making fun of his penchant for soliliquy). Empress (Ellen Barkin) is an aging cougar who struts her sluttiness; Tower (Brandon T. Jackson) is a neurotic mess; Heirophant (Lost's Emilie de Ravin) is an assassin spawned in the deep south Bible belt who witnesses about Jesus after she's put you down to your last breaths; and High Priestess (Nikita's Maggie Q) is seldom seen except for when she recruits Fool into the crew.

Sharing the view with the audience are Neal and Carl (Michael Hitchcock and Tim Bagley) along with Susan (Beth Grant, Delta) from Human Resources. Far above the ensuing conflagration, they have a front row seat, thanks to their monitors, as the off-center agents wipe each other out.

When it's all said and done, and the "surprise" ending has been pulled, this reviewer is left wondering: What was that all for? Were they trying to save information for the Obama Administration to indict the Bush Administration? I honestly can't tell you why any of the events of the film happened. But they sure did look "done on a budget" cool.

Bonus features on this disc include a lengthy making-of shot showing takes of several scenes, as well as an alternate opening and ending.