Don Movie Reviews

I am a die-hard Adam Sandler fan, and have enjoyed every movie he has been in. This movie was the exception. Although Adam Sandler does a great job acting in a role far outside his normal adolescent humor, the movie itself can only be described as odd. The movie revolves around a cast of characters who all seem to suffer from some manner of mental abnormality, and as such it is hard to feel a connect with the plight of the characters. The plot involves a series of odd twists, again outside the realm of normal life. There are a few suspenseful moments in the movie, but much of the movie drags like a 50-ton weight. The worst part of the movie is the number of loose ends and oddities that are never explained. What was the point of the harmonium? How could Adam's character be a struggling small business owner, and yet have the money to senselessly purchase so much pudding? How on earth could his girlfriend possibly enjoy being told 'I want to smash your face with a sledgehammer' in an erotic way? The movie can only be appreciated as some manner of abstract art, and not for it's script, character development, plot, or cinematography. 5 stars to Adam Sandler for branching out into such a vastly different role, but 2 stars for the movie as a whole.

This was a surprise movie... at least for me. I'd only seen Adam Sandler being a total goof-off. he did a fabulous job of portraying this poor, mixed up character trying to find his way. I felt such sympathy for him. His sisters gave good performances as well. Just a well-done movie. Worth seeing.

I'm getting tired of the mindless morons who keep bashing this movie. I'm going to make a few things clear. Listen: If your brand of humor survives mainly on fart jokes, crap humor, and "Jackass" style hijinks, then you need to skip this film. You seriously lack the intellect to handle it. I can't stand how people are being totally close-minded about this wonderful film. This is NOT your normal Sandler film (he proves that he actually CAN act) so if that statement scares you, stay away from this film. If your favorite movie is "Road House," stay away from this film. If you're an all-American, rebel flag waving sort, stay away from this film. If you HAVE to have a "plot" to go along with your movies to keep you on track, stay away from this film. If you're looking for the cliched and overdone happy ending were everything is resolved and you're happy because you've had everything spoon-fed to you, stay away from this film. If you watched "American Beauty" and the ever present scenes of floating rose petals confused the heck out of you, stay away from this film. If you watched "Magnolia" and couldn't get past the "frog storm" because you thought it was stupid, stay away from this film. If you like Chuck Norris, stay away from this film. If you think Steven Seagal is one of the best actors of our time, stay away from this film. If you're pride and joy happens to be your brand new Ford pick up sittin' all nice and pretty in the driveway at home, stay away from this film. If you pronounce "Chocolat" and "chowclit!", stay away from this film. If you're dog's name happens to be Rufus, Cletis, Bosco, or Chopper - STAY AWAY FROM THIS FILM! Okay?! Just stay far away and rent "Missing in Action" or "Kindergarten Cop". STAY AWAY!

For all of the other people out there who enjoy REAL cinema, check this one out as soon as possible. You won't be disappointed!

I am a die-hard Adam Sandler fan, and have enjoyed every movie he has been in. This movie was the exception. Although Adam Sandler does a great job acting in a role far outside his normal adolescent humor, the movie itself can only be described as odd. The movie revolves around a cast of characters who all seem to suffer from some manner of mental abnormality, and as such it is hard to feel a connect with the plight of the characters. The plot involves a series of odd twists, again outside the realm of normal life. There are a few suspenseful moments in the movie, but much of the movie drags like a 50-ton weight. The worst part of the movie is the number of loose ends and oddities that are never explained. What was the point of the harmonium? How could Adam's character be a struggling small business owner, and yet have the money to senselessly purchase so much pudding? How on earth could his girlfriend possibly enjoy being told 'I want to smash your face with a sledgehammer' in an erotic way? The movie can only be appreciated as some manner of abstract art, and not for it's script, character development, plot, or cinematography. 5 stars to Adam Sandler for branching out into such a vastly different role, but 2 stars for the movie as a whole.

This was a surprise movie... at least for me. I'd only seen Adam Sandler being a total goof-off. he did a fabulous job of portraying this poor, mixed up character trying to find his way. I felt such sympathy for him. His sisters gave good performances as well. Just a well-done movie. Worth seeing.

I'm getting tired of the mindless morons who keep bashing this movie. I'm going to make a few things clear. Listen: If your brand of humor survives mainly on fart jokes, crap humor, and "Jackass" style hijinks, then you need to skip this film. You seriously lack the intellect to handle it. I can't stand how people are being totally close-minded about this wonderful film. This is NOT your normal Sandler film (he proves that he actually CAN act) so if that statement scares you, stay away from this film. If your favorite movie is "Road House," stay away from this film. If you're an all-American, rebel flag waving sort, stay away from this film. If you HAVE to have a "plot" to go along with your movies to keep you on track, stay away from this film. If you're looking for the cliched and overdone happy ending were everything is resolved and you're happy because you've had everything spoon-fed to you, stay away from this film. If you watched "American Beauty" and the ever present scenes of floating rose petals confused the heck out of you, stay away from this film. If you watched "Magnolia" and couldn't get past the "frog storm" because you thought it was stupid, stay away from this film. If you like Chuck Norris, stay away from this film. If you think Steven Seagal is one of the best actors of our time, stay away from this film. If you're pride and joy happens to be your brand new Ford pick up sittin' all nice and pretty in the driveway at home, stay away from this film. If you pronounce "Chocolat" and "chowclit!", stay away from this film. If you're dog's name happens to be Rufus, Cletis, Bosco, or Chopper - STAY AWAY FROM THIS FILM! Okay?! Just stay far away and rent "Missing in Action" or "Kindergarten Cop". STAY AWAY!

For all of the other people out there who enjoy REAL cinema, check this one out as soon as possible. You won't be disappointed!

This sequel really threw me for a proverbial loop. I was going into it expecting Bill, Ted; you know maybe a cameo by Napoleon... When I saw Keanu I figured, "Alright, so he's goth now, that's cool." Then out popped his NEW friend Trinity, and apparently this Morpheus character took over for Ruffius (Did the actor who played ruffius die?). Anyway, I did like the substitution of the "Hovership" for the phone booth, a little more time-travel realism (After all, I've been in phone booths, and I've never time-traveled). And that first Bill and Ted movie must have made some !CASH! because they pumped this new one full of special effects! All in all, I liked it, but I think that they could have done a better job of connecting the plots of the 2 movies.

This sequel is full of non-stop action that - as they claim - lifts the bar on what to expect in movies of this nature. The Wachowski brothers and their team have definitely outdone themselves on that score. The fight scene between Keanu Reaves and the hundreds of Smiths has to be one of the best martial arts sequences on film (OK, maybe not). The special effects are crazy, with Neo (Reaves) gaining superman like powers that enables him to fly, and bounce off walls like Spiderman. That isn't new but there are more such sequences in the sequel.

The emotional attachment between Keanu Reeves and Carrie Ann Moss gets stronger and we see more of the human-side of Neo than we did in the Matrix. (I thought the sexual scenes in the film were unnecessary) Lawrence Fishburne doesn't fail to disappoint as the general with a dream who inspires the resistance. More characters are introduced like the twins with their crazy hair and ability to become temporarily invisible, the Keymaker, Jada Pinkett Smith (Morpheus' love interest) and the Chief architect...

The extras on this DVD are excellent, check out the MTV spoof with Justin Timberlake and that dude from 'Dude where's my car'. It's funny, especially the Chief Architect part, a definite must-see.

All in all, a great sequel, don't believe everything you read though...Watch it and decide for yourself.

When I saw the original Matrix, I was not impressed. I never even bothered to see the Mmatrix Reloaded until recently. I was missing out.

The Matrix Trilogy has a wonderful storyline, and Reloaded is the most important of them. While the original sets up the storyline and the finale is all about the war and Neos battle with Smith, Reloaded answers a lot of questions and creates even more. I mean, the Wachowski brothers did make some good plot twists.

Each character seems unique, and every one is there to serve a purpose. I feel like the Keymaker could of been more developed, and his role should of been much more important. The Merovingian and his wife Persephone are examples of new characters that are fantastic.

I do not really care about special effects, but these were grand. The freeway chase was visually pleasing, especially sequences with the Twins. Also, Neos fight with the 100 Smiths was fun to watch. I love the song they play.

The DVD has some fairly good extras, if you are into documentaries on how the film is made. It also talks about the Animatrix, the Enter the Matrix video game, and includes the MTV Movie Awards parody of the Matrix Reloaded.

This sequel really threw me for a proverbial loop. I was going into it expecting Bill, Ted; you know maybe a cameo by Napoleon... When I saw Keanu I figured, "Alright, so he's goth now, that's cool." Then out popped his NEW friend Trinity, and apparently this Morpheus character took over for Ruffius (Did the actor who played ruffius die?). Anyway, I did like the substitution of the "Hovership" for the phone booth, a little more time-travel realism (After all, I've been in phone booths, and I've never time-traveled). And that first Bill and Ted movie must have made some !CASH! because they pumped this new one full of special effects! All in all, I liked it, but I think that they could have done a better job of connecting the plots of the 2 movies.

This sequel is full of non-stop action that - as they claim - lifts the bar on what to expect in movies of this nature. The Wachowski brothers and their team have definitely outdone themselves on that score. The fight scene between Keanu Reaves and the hundreds of Smiths has to be one of the best martial arts sequences on film (OK, maybe not). The special effects are crazy, with Neo (Reaves) gaining superman like powers that enables him to fly, and bounce off walls like Spiderman. That isn't new but there are more such sequences in the sequel.

The emotional attachment between Keanu Reeves and Carrie Ann Moss gets stronger and we see more of the human-side of Neo than we did in the Matrix. (I thought the sexual scenes in the film were unnecessary) Lawrence Fishburne doesn't fail to disappoint as the general with a dream who inspires the resistance. More characters are introduced like the twins with their crazy hair and ability to become temporarily invisible, the Keymaker, Jada Pinkett Smith (Morpheus' love interest) and the Chief architect...

The extras on this DVD are excellent, check out the MTV spoof with Justin Timberlake and that dude from 'Dude where's my car'. It's funny, especially the Chief Architect part, a definite must-see.

All in all, a great sequel, don't believe everything you read though...Watch it and decide for yourself.

When I saw the original Matrix, I was not impressed. I never even bothered to see the Mmatrix Reloaded until recently. I was missing out.

The Matrix Trilogy has a wonderful storyline, and Reloaded is the most important of them. While the original sets up the storyline and the finale is all about the war and Neos battle with Smith, Reloaded answers a lot of questions and creates even more. I mean, the Wachowski brothers did make some good plot twists.

Each character seems unique, and every one is there to serve a purpose. I feel like the Keymaker could of been more developed, and his role should of been much more important. The Merovingian and his wife Persephone are examples of new characters that are fantastic.

I do not really care about special effects, but these were grand. The freeway chase was visually pleasing, especially sequences with the Twins. Also, Neos fight with the 100 Smiths was fun to watch. I love the song they play.

The DVD has some fairly good extras, if you are into documentaries on how the film is made. It also talks about the Animatrix, the Enter the Matrix video game, and includes the MTV Movie Awards parody of the Matrix Reloaded.

Regulating human behavior through law has always led to tension between governing bodies and the general public. Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" explores this truism by chronicling the trafficking and sale of illegal drugs. At the heart of this conflict is the struggle between a society that wants to stamp out this destructive scourge and the segment of the population unwilling to comply with the law because they are profiting from drug sales or consider drug use a recreational act too enjoyable to give up.

Soderbergh's film is composed of three distinct but intertwined tales. One tale involves a judge named Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas) who is appointed the nation's new drug czar. He experiences the destructive nature of drugs first-hand when his daughter, Caroline (Erika Christensen) becomes addicted to crack cocaine. Another tale features a police officer in Mexico named Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro). Rodriguez wants to disrupt the flow of drugs from its source but finds that the authorities in charge of combating drug trafficking may be part of the problem. The third tale revolves around a successful businessman named Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer) and his wife Helena (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Their lives are shattered when Carlos is arrested for his involvement in the drug trade.

Taken as a whole, "Traffic" has an epic feel about it because there is so much going on and so many characters that figure into the events of the three separate stories. With so many component parts to the film, it could have easily become a jumbled mess. Yet, Soderbergh smoothly transitions from story to story and ably weaves his three tales into an impressive tapestry. The acting shines from everyone involved: Douglas, Del Toro, Zeta-Jones, and Don Cheadle turn in exemplary performances while Dennis Quaid, Miguel Ferrer, Luis Guzmán compliment them with strong supporting turns. "Traffic" is an ambitious piece of filmmaking that will entertain and disturb at the same time.

I think it was the director (Soderberg) who said that he wanted to make a movie that did not reflect his views on the drug issue, but one which presented the facts as they were so that viewers could come up with their own conclusions. In this he succeeded. Traffic is a fairly unbiased look at the drug problem in the Mexico and the U.S. The Mexican half of the film is in Spanish with English subtitles, which in my opinion gives the film a more realistic feel. The documentary type sequences in the film (with real politicians and other officials) also add to the feeling of authenticity.

There are a number of subplots in the film which makes the film slightly difficult to follow if you aren't paying careful attention. Fortunately, all these subplots are somehow related, a masterful stroke as the subplots add to the complexity of the film reflecting the complexity of the problem in the real world.

I appreciated Soderberg not going down the route that many other American movie makers have gone. I'm referring to those directors who love the idea that the Americans are the heroes and the rest of the world is the bad-guys (A variation on the cowboys and Indians theme that many other directors have found difficult to grow out of). In traffic we have the 'bad-guys' on both sides of the border. In fact one of the 'bad-guys' turns out to be the daughter (Erika Christensen) of the man heading the war on drugs (Michael Douglas).

If you are a Michael Douglas fan, you won't be disappointed. If you are a Catherine Zeta Jones fan, you won't be disappointed. In fact if you are a fan of great movies, with great storylines and totally believable people you won't be disappointed with this film. Watch it to see what I'm talking about.

If your like me and fed up with comedies and other movies that take the focus off of real world problems, you will love this movie. A five star cast takes you on a multi faceted tour of the high risk world of the illegal drug trade from four different interrelated stand points. Although you might think that combining multiple stories leads to loss of attention and confusion, you wrong. In this movie it tends to make each story a little more personal and the conclusion all the more better.

Regulating human behavior through law has always led to tension between governing bodies and the general public. Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" explores this truism by chronicling the trafficking and sale of illegal drugs. At the heart of this conflict is the struggle between a society that wants to stamp out this destructive scourge and the segment of the population unwilling to comply with the law because they are profiting from drug sales or consider drug use a recreational act too enjoyable to give up.

Soderbergh's film is composed of three distinct but intertwined tales. One tale involves a judge named Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas) who is appointed the nation's new drug czar. He experiences the destructive nature of drugs first-hand when his daughter, Caroline (Erika Christensen) becomes addicted to crack cocaine. Another tale features a police officer in Mexico named Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro). Rodriguez wants to disrupt the flow of drugs from its source but finds that the authorities in charge of combating drug trafficking may be part of the problem. The third tale revolves around a successful businessman named Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer) and his wife Helena (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Their lives are shattered when Carlos is arrested for his involvement in the drug trade.

Taken as a whole, "Traffic" has an epic feel about it because there is so much going on and so many characters that figure into the events of the three separate stories. With so many component parts to the film, it could have easily become a jumbled mess. Yet, Soderbergh smoothly transitions from story to story and ably weaves his three tales into an impressive tapestry. The acting shines from everyone involved: Douglas, Del Toro, Zeta-Jones, and Don Cheadle turn in exemplary performances while Dennis Quaid, Miguel Ferrer, Luis Guzmán compliment them with strong supporting turns. "Traffic" is an ambitious piece of filmmaking that will entertain and disturb at the same time.

I think it was the director (Soderberg) who said that he wanted to make a movie that did not reflect his views on the drug issue, but one which presented the facts as they were so that viewers could come up with their own conclusions. In this he succeeded. Traffic is a fairly unbiased look at the drug problem in the Mexico and the U.S. The Mexican half of the film is in Spanish with English subtitles, which in my opinion gives the film a more realistic feel. The documentary type sequences in the film (with real politicians and other officials) also add to the feeling of authenticity.

There are a number of subplots in the film which makes the film slightly difficult to follow if you aren't paying careful attention. Fortunately, all these subplots are somehow related, a masterful stroke as the subplots add to the complexity of the film reflecting the complexity of the problem in the real world.

I appreciated Soderberg not going down the route that many other American movie makers have gone. I'm referring to those directors who love the idea that the Americans are the heroes and the rest of the world is the bad-guys (A variation on the cowboys and Indians theme that many other directors have found difficult to grow out of). In traffic we have the 'bad-guys' on both sides of the border. In fact one of the 'bad-guys' turns out to be the daughter (Erika Christensen) of the man heading the war on drugs (Michael Douglas).

If you are a Michael Douglas fan, you won't be disappointed. If you are a Catherine Zeta Jones fan, you won't be disappointed. In fact if you are a fan of great movies, with great storylines and totally believable people you won't be disappointed with this film. Watch it to see what I'm talking about.

If your like me and fed up with comedies and other movies that take the focus off of real world problems, you will love this movie. A five star cast takes you on a multi faceted tour of the high risk world of the illegal drug trade from four different interrelated stand points. Although you might think that combining multiple stories leads to loss of attention and confusion, you wrong. In this movie it tends to make each story a little more personal and the conclusion all the more better.

Wow. With 315 reviews already written and an Amazon sales rank of 909 this is one of the most popular movies of any genre. Of the 50 animated movies we are ranking this would be 16 on Amazon. We liked it also, but ranked it 23rd out of 50.

There is some seriously excellent artwork in this movie. This excellence is not consistent. Not sure how that happens, lazy director, diffent teams working on different parts of the movies, don't know. The same thing happens with comic books also. The quality suddenly drops off and then returns. We give it 3 stars for the story which is OK but not worthy of more than 3 stars. There are times when the story make one roll their eyes. As a Disney movie we do like 22 movies better, but 27 less.

An amateur adventurer named Milo is obsessed with finding Atlantis, and after he is financed by an eccentric to become part of a team going there, Milo meets the Atlanteans and finds happiness with them. As one would expect, the animation is gorgeous and the designs are phenomenal, but there were also problems with pacing and plot. I don't think the explorers get to Atlantic until halfway through the film. Also, there is a lot of gunplay and a very long climactic battle. Boring. As for plot points ... well, that would spoil things, but don't use this film to teach your kids logic. We wnjoyed the film, but neither adults nor kids wanted to re-watch the film. The voice cast was excellent. There are fewer dvd extras here than are usually found on Disney disks -- commentary and some info about the "real" Atlantis. Audio is in English or French, while subtitles are available only in English.

This film was a pleasant surprise for me. The ads on television didn't do the movie justice. It was much better than I expected. Being Michael J. Fox's most recent, and possibly last foray into the big screen, I wanted to see it just for that.

The film follows a team trying to find the legendary city of Atlantis, with MJF's character Milo leading them, using an old manuscript that was willed to him. The characterization is wonderful, with a wide variety of personalities, James Garner playing a wonderful role in this.

This is a good children's movie, but has good qualities that adults would like as well, such as the humor. There are some good underlying messages in this one too. If you like a lot of the new animated films that have been coming out of Hollywood the last few years, you'll love this one. It's much better than Road to El Dorado and Emperor's New Groove. Your kids will probably like it too.

Wow. With 315 reviews already written and an Amazon sales rank of 909 this is one of the most popular movies of any genre. Of the 50 animated movies we are ranking this would be 16 on Amazon. We liked it also, but ranked it 23rd out of 50.

There is some seriously excellent artwork in this movie. This excellence is not consistent. Not sure how that happens, lazy director, diffent teams working on different parts of the movies, don't know. The same thing happens with comic books also. The quality suddenly drops off and then returns. We give it 3 stars for the story which is OK but not worthy of more than 3 stars. There are times when the story make one roll their eyes. As a Disney movie we do like 22 movies better, but 27 less.

An amateur adventurer named Milo is obsessed with finding Atlantis, and after he is financed by an eccentric to become part of a team going there, Milo meets the Atlanteans and finds happiness with them. As one would expect, the animation is gorgeous and the designs are phenomenal, but there were also problems with pacing and plot. I don't think the explorers get to Atlantic until halfway through the film. Also, there is a lot of gunplay and a very long climactic battle. Boring. As for plot points ... well, that would spoil things, but don't use this film to teach your kids logic. We wnjoyed the film, but neither adults nor kids wanted to re-watch the film. The voice cast was excellent. There are fewer dvd extras here than are usually found on Disney disks -- commentary and some info about the "real" Atlantis. Audio is in English or French, while subtitles are available only in English.

This film was a pleasant surprise for me. The ads on television didn't do the movie justice. It was much better than I expected. Being Michael J. Fox's most recent, and possibly last foray into the big screen, I wanted to see it just for that.

The film follows a team trying to find the legendary city of Atlantis, with MJF's character Milo leading them, using an old manuscript that was willed to him. The characterization is wonderful, with a wide variety of personalities, James Garner playing a wonderful role in this.

This is a good children's movie, but has good qualities that adults would like as well, such as the humor. There are some good underlying messages in this one too. If you like a lot of the new animated films that have been coming out of Hollywood the last few years, you'll love this one. It's much better than Road to El Dorado and Emperor's New Groove. Your kids will probably like it too.

Hugh Jackman is a hack man who is sent to John Travolta because Travolta needs him for a job. along the way we get great special tricked out effects and some good chases. Don Cheadle, Rudolf Martin, Vinnie Jones and the nude Halle Berry also star. the beginning where theres the camera panning around the place when the explosion accures it a good start. also where Travolta explaisn about the world of the computer. but theres some flaws along the way. Jackman must of hand a great time when that girl was giving him the old bob the knob while he hacks away

Simply put, the cinematic vasectomy of a script reeked badly of stale pizza and bong water, complete with its cheerfully care-free grade-school world views.

Not one trite action movie cliche is left unturned --

(1) A smash and crash background score with a lifetime supply of techno
(2) And a Fuji-color sepia tone to go with it...you know, that yellowish brown look-ma-I'm-so-cool kind of film glow, the type used in wannabe hitech movies
(3) An oh-so-cool "hacker" (sigh) who can do it all given enough number of powerful Dell servers, including guessing a 32-hash password in less than 1 minute. It's also a bit tiring to see Hollywood propagate this doozy myth where a single key press brings up screenloads of highly classified information.
(4) Our dear hacker of course lives in an abandoned stilt bus outta town, in abject poverty, being perfectly content with it given his honesty and all
(5) A wrap-on prop of a female (played, gulp, by Halle Berry) who knows everything about everyone at the right time, because well, she is an underdog for the.... [You Know, One of Those Highly Confidential Type Organizations]
(6) A daylight bank robbery with guns bigger than the buses they were carried in, and masks and hostages, a la "Dog Day Afternoon"
(7) A rich man who can afford it all in his swank disco, including promising 20 million to the hacker for this supercool banking hack which'll allow them to interchange monies between all these international banks
(8) A needless gratuitous nudie scene, and then a needless gratuitous nudie scene
(9) Oh, and let's not forget a pulpy twist in the end that so badly defies logic, you have to be a Jessica Simpson to fall for it. Plus, I wonder if US police force has at least a couple of helicopters of its own.

YET:

There is something about the movie that makes it watchable. Thrice. May be it is precisely the kind of pulpy action that us media junkies seem to find our escapism in. It's all in the package:

(1) Mindblowing explosions. I mean, really!
(2) Some pretty edge-of-the-seat chases
(3) Great fight sequences
(4) A helicopter in a high-rise town
(5) A fantastic background score

ALL IN ALL:

A pretty decent fare overall for action buffs. May also be a good male-bonding movie, especially for guys just beginning to "ping" and "tracert." If you enjoy The Matrix trilogy, you just may enjoy this too.

Go for it. And leave your common sense at the door.

When I first saw Swordfish, during its theatrical run, I remember not being all that enthused with the end result. To be fair, I don't consider myself a John Travolta fan, and I think that had a lot to do with my initial impression. With nothing else to rent, I decided to give the film another shot.

Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) was one of the best and most dangerous computer hackers in the world. That is until he got caught and spent two years in prison. A condition of his parole states that if he ever uses a computer again--it's back to jail. All he wants to do now, is make amends to his daughter, and be left alone. Yet, a $10 million dollar paycheck is all his, if he agrees to help covert agent Gabriel Shear (Travolta), gain access to a government slush fund, worth 9.5 billion. FBI Agent Roberts (Don Cheadle) is hot on Shear's trail and Ginger (Halle Berry) is there as Gabe's girl.

Dominic Sena is a very solid director. I have to admit that perhaps my earlier asessment may have been incorrect. I liked Swordfish much more this time around. I still don't care for Travolta all that much, but I can get past that, if I take the the film for what it is, a mindless enjoyable actioner. Jackman is the perfect balance to Travolta, as he's really someone you can root for, the hero with a checkered past. There's also a lot more well placed eye candy than I remembered.

The bonus material on the DVD includes an informative audio commentary from Sena. There are 2 making of featuretes: An HBO First Look Special and The Effects in Focus. Both are standard stuff of this kind. What is of more interest though, are the two alternate endings, with Sena's commentary. A DVD-ROM interface offer additional production information, while the theatrical trailer tops off the extras.

Better than I first gave it credit, Swordfish makes a nice rental, even for non Travolta fans like me.

Hugh Jackman is a hack man who is sent to John Travolta because Travolta needs him for a job. along the way we get great special tricked out effects and some good chases. Don Cheadle, Rudolf Martin, Vinnie Jones and the nude Halle Berry also star. the beginning where theres the camera panning around the place when the explosion accures it a good start. also where Travolta explaisn about the world of the computer. but theres some flaws along the way. Jackman must of hand a great time when that girl was giving him the old bob the knob while he hacks away

Simply put, the cinematic vasectomy of a script reeked badly of stale pizza and bong water, complete with its cheerfully care-free grade-school world views.

Not one trite action movie cliche is left unturned --

(1) A smash and crash background score with a lifetime supply of techno
(2) And a Fuji-color sepia tone to go with it...you know, that yellowish brown look-ma-I'm-so-cool kind of film glow, the type used in wannabe hitech movies
(3) An oh-so-cool "hacker" (sigh) who can do it all given enough number of powerful Dell servers, including guessing a 32-hash password in less than 1 minute. It's also a bit tiring to see Hollywood propagate this doozy myth where a single key press brings up screenloads of highly classified information.
(4) Our dear hacker of course lives in an abandoned stilt bus outta town, in abject poverty, being perfectly content with it given his honesty and all
(5) A wrap-on prop of a female (played, gulp, by Halle Berry) who knows everything about everyone at the right time, because well, she is an underdog for the.... [You Know, One of Those Highly Confidential Type Organizations]
(6) A daylight bank robbery with guns bigger than the buses they were carried in, and masks and hostages, a la "Dog Day Afternoon"
(7) A rich man who can afford it all in his swank disco, including promising 20 million to the hacker for this supercool banking hack which'll allow them to interchange monies between all these international banks
(8) A needless gratuitous nudie scene, and then a needless gratuitous nudie scene
(9) Oh, and let's not forget a pulpy twist in the end that so badly defies logic, you have to be a Jessica Simpson to fall for it. Plus, I wonder if US police force has at least a couple of helicopters of its own.

YET:

There is something about the movie that makes it watchable. Thrice. May be it is precisely the kind of pulpy action that us media junkies seem to find our escapism in. It's all in the package:

(1) Mindblowing explosions. I mean, really!
(2) Some pretty edge-of-the-seat chases
(3) Great fight sequences
(4) A helicopter in a high-rise town
(5) A fantastic background score

ALL IN ALL:

A pretty decent fare overall for action buffs. May also be a good male-bonding movie, especially for guys just beginning to "ping" and "tracert." If you enjoy The Matrix trilogy, you just may enjoy this too.

Go for it. And leave your common sense at the door.

When I first saw Swordfish, during its theatrical run, I remember not being all that enthused with the end result. To be fair, I don't consider myself a John Travolta fan, and I think that had a lot to do with my initial impression. With nothing else to rent, I decided to give the film another shot.

Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) was one of the best and most dangerous computer hackers in the world. That is until he got caught and spent two years in prison. A condition of his parole states that if he ever uses a computer again--it's back to jail. All he wants to do now, is make amends to his daughter, and be left alone. Yet, a $10 million dollar paycheck is all his, if he agrees to help covert agent Gabriel Shear (Travolta), gain access to a government slush fund, worth 9.5 billion. FBI Agent Roberts (Don Cheadle) is hot on Shear's trail and Ginger (Halle Berry) is there as Gabe's girl.

Dominic Sena is a very solid director. I have to admit that perhaps my earlier asessment may have been incorrect. I liked Swordfish much more this time around. I still don't care for Travolta all that much, but I can get past that, if I take the the film for what it is, a mindless enjoyable actioner. Jackman is the perfect balance to Travolta, as he's really someone you can root for, the hero with a checkered past. There's also a lot more well placed eye candy than I remembered.

The bonus material on the DVD includes an informative audio commentary from Sena. There are 2 making of featuretes: An HBO First Look Special and The Effects in Focus. Both are standard stuff of this kind. What is of more interest though, are the two alternate endings, with Sena's commentary. A DVD-ROM interface offer additional production information, while the theatrical trailer tops off the extras.

Better than I first gave it credit, Swordfish makes a nice rental, even for non Travolta fans like me.