 |
Password
Accepted. A Review by |
| Considering the
big BOMB Travolta let out last summer, I was a tad reluctant to jump on to the ship of
"Swordfish". Of course, the rest of the stars of this film appeared in
"X-men" and "Traffic" respectively...so all cannot be lost. Besides,
the commercials for this film looked so cool. I just had to see it. In a way, I'm glad I
did...but I am also a little upset I did as well. Gabriel Shear (John Travolta "Battlefield Earth"), a charismatic and dangerous spy wanting to finance his own brand of patriotism, needs to get inside the world of secrets, cyberspace, and tons and tons of cash.. If he can get in, billions in illegal government funds wait for the taking. To actually steal the money, however, he'll need a superhacker to crack goverment codes. That's where Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman "X-Men") enters the picture. One of the two best hackers on the planet, Stanley has been forbidden to get within 50 yards of the nearest electronics store after doing time for wreaking havoc on the FBI's controversial high-tech cyber surveillance operations. Now Stanley is living out his life in a broken-down trailer, penniless, alone and without the one thing that gives his life meaning - his daughter Holly, whom he lost in a divorce. Gabriel and his beautiful partner Ginger (Halle Berry "X-men") lure Stanley into their clandestine world, baiting him with the one thing he can't have - a chance to reunite with Holly and start a new life. But once Stanley enters their world, he realizes that nothing in this operation is what it seems and he has become a pawn in a plot that's a lot more sinister than a high-tech bank heist. Swordfish does something that I haven't seen occur ever before in my 19 years of existance. Within the first ten minutes of the film (a ten minutes that I shall NEVER forget), the film reaches its peak. I mean the first ten minutes are so gripping and balls to the walls, that any and everything that occurs after it is left looking a little half assed. Its not half assed though, its just misplaced. The film suffers from exceeding to well from the start, and not being able to keep that high expectation up for the entire film. The rest of the film is very solid, and probably would've been a great film had the opening scene occured in its correct time frame. The acting in this film is ok, but I've seen better from everyone on board. However, Travolta once again proves that he can be a very bad ass bad guy. I haven't had this much fun with a villian since the Castor Troy/Sean Archer Travolta of 'Face Off'. Swordfish also tries to be a little TOO smart. It throws twists and subplots upon twists and subplots that will either confuse the living hell out of most audiences or just piss them off all together. Either way, in a time where the summer needs an action flick to grab on to...this one just doesn't deliver enough. Its more like a suspense flick, that uses action pieces as starter pistols for the remaining acting and dialouge. Not a bad thing, but not exactly what I was expecting either. Swordfish is a solid film, that is rather smart and has a
nice mix of action with it. Unfortunately, swordfish is double edged as its
"smarts" will be looked upon as being overwritten and its action will be seen as
seriously unbalanced. Swordfish is the action film that is to hold us over for one more
week before the real action flick "Tomb Raider" comes. I enjoyed Swordfish, but
I know many will not...and I understand why. Of course, seeing Halle Berry's bare breast
is definately worth the price of admission. |
-Now that you've read something, he's written. Wouldn't you like to find out more about Vigilante? Here you go. |
