Sometimes an hour and 40 minutes of non-stop action is not as much fun as it sounds like. On the other hand, films are supposed to entertain and there is more entertainment here than meets the eye.
This reviewer's scorecard, humbly submitted:
CONS:
* Toni Collette completes her mission to distance herself as far as humanly possible from Muriels Wedding 1994. Wish she hadn't even tried.
* I thought these sort of goofy semi-spoof spy films (where even the writers are not 100% sure whether to play it straight or for laughs) ended with OUR MAN FLINT in 1966. Oops. I was wrong.
* writing, editing, directing all could have been turned up a notch. Looks like a big rush to get it out there so it could start spinning off cash.
PROS:
* Sam Jackson, an actor who film historians of the future will designate the "most overexposed" actor of our generation, gets only a walkon and then is blown up. Finally someone got the memo!
* stars Vin Diesel, one of the most reliable action figures of our era. This is not in the class of Riddick or Pitch Black, but Vin commits to every role and does not hold back.
* some really nice stunts. You will think of them fondly when you leave the theatre.
* introduces Canadian Nina Dobrev to a wider audience. The line to join the fan club starts at the back of the room. And when membership closes, we can start a brand new one for Deepika Padukone.
* any movie -- repeat, ANY -- that advances Donnie Yen's English language career is a plus. And worthy of our support. (Donnie's English is way better than Jet Li's was, and I wish him many more western roles.)
* the final action sequence, the climax, runs about 20 minutes and is sort of engaging.
BOTTOM LINE: Not as bad as the reviews suggest. Not in line for an Oscar either.
This reviewer's scorecard, humbly submitted:
CONS:
* Toni Collette completes her mission to distance herself as far as humanly possible from Muriels Wedding 1994. Wish she hadn't even tried.
* I thought these sort of goofy semi-spoof spy films (where even the writers are not 100% sure whether to play it straight or for laughs) ended with OUR MAN FLINT in 1966. Oops. I was wrong.
* writing, editing, directing all could have been turned up a notch. Looks like a big rush to get it out there so it could start spinning off cash.
PROS:
* Sam Jackson, an actor who film historians of the future will designate the "most overexposed" actor of our generation, gets only a walkon and then is blown up. Finally someone got the memo!
* stars Vin Diesel, one of the most reliable action figures of our era. This is not in the class of Riddick or Pitch Black, but Vin commits to every role and does not hold back.
* some really nice stunts. You will think of them fondly when you leave the theatre.
* introduces Canadian Nina Dobrev to a wider audience. The line to join the fan club starts at the back of the room. And when membership closes, we can start a brand new one for Deepika Padukone.
* any movie -- repeat, ANY -- that advances Donnie Yen's English language career is a plus. And worthy of our support. (Donnie's English is way better than Jet Li's was, and I wish him many more western roles.)
* the final action sequence, the climax, runs about 20 minutes and is sort of engaging.
BOTTOM LINE: Not as bad as the reviews suggest. Not in line for an Oscar either.