Controversy is more than a song by Prince. Apparently a little of it surrounded this Direct to Video thriller in that Muriel Hemmingway's character, in the original cut of this film, was supposed to be a lesbian thus making her character what I believe would be the first ever lesbian action hero. Unfortunately that void remains unfilled because in the cut of this film that made it to our shores, the majority of her characters sexual preference references were removed and the film also underwent a title change. Originally set to be one of those lame Direct to Video sequels of a successful theatrical release titled ‘Air Force Two’ – I’ll let you guess what movie it was based on, it is now renamed ‘In Her Line of Fire’.

Vice President of the United States of America Charles Walker (David Keith) is on his plane Air Force Two heading to some summit or another along with a few aides, some reporters and his right hand lady Secret Service Agent Sergeant Major Lynn Delaney. They chatter about this and that on their flight, and you can tell that there was a little sexual tension between Agent Delaney and reporter Jill Bennett (Sharon Serano) but like we said, red states don’t like that stuff so on the cutting room floor it goes. There is a storm overhead and a well timed and well placed bolt of lightning sends Air Force Two careening out of control into the sea, crashing into the ocean. There aren’t a whole lot of survivors of this crash but what few there are manage to wash up on some uncharted desert isle and they gather themselves to set up shop and hope for a rescue.

But not so fast my friends because as dumb luck would have it, Air Force 2 has crash landed just outside some island that is filled to the brim with American hating revolutionistas / Freedom Hating terrorist, all being trained by the supremely unsavory

Armstrong (David Millbern) who has gotten wind that the freaking Vice President of the United States is on his island and oh what a bounty he should fetch. Well good luck with that evil Freedom Hating Terrorist dude because today Rambo is sporting Double X chromosomes and she ain’t playing around. Couple that with the fact that our Vice President is also a former special forces stud, and Agent Delaney’s field ex-commander, well I’m afraid your team of a couple thousand freedom haters are in for a tough row to hoe. Complicating Agent Delaney’s situation is the fact that she is sworn to take a bullet for the Vice President who keeps finding ways to jump in front of bullets, considering he used to be a special forces stud and all. There’s also the saving of her captured girlfriend… I mean, that lady who she seems incredibly interested in her only as a friend, in who she only has a passing relationship with who ISN’T her girlfriend because that’s not in the story no more.

‘In Her Line of Fire’ is a bit of a throwback flick to those old Canon Group movies that Yorum and Menachem used to shat out with reckless abandon back in the 1980’s with the only thing missing being Michael Dudikoff or Chuck Norris to complete the circle. This isn’t a really bad movie quite honestly, just a generic mediocre one. The dialog is perfunctory if uninspired, the action is plentiful if not a bit mundane, there are car chases, explosions, foot chases and plenty of killing so I wouldn’t call ‘In her Line of Fire’ particularly boring. Our plot has an attractive damsel in distress, a little bit of political intrigue and what would a movie with female hero be if she wasn’t surrounded by mean evil men tugging on the buttons on her shirt itching to do some sexual assaulting. Our cast is filled with competent, if somewhat unspectacular veterans of film and television and it all culminates in the usual assortment of action sequences and explosions and a big showdown between hero and villain.

The only thing that could have possibly set ‘In Her Line of Fire’ apart from any other of the ten thousand or so movies made exactly like this one is the lesbian angle, but alas that was taken out. No, leaving it in wouldn’t have made this film any less mediocre or any more entertaining, but it would have it just a bit less generic. However if mediocre is your thing, then I have tracked down the crowning jewel to your movie watching weekend in the completely mediocre ‘In Her Line of Fire’.