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SWORDFISH
This is definitely going to be a big movie when it comes out. The trailer
alone sells most of what Swordfish is about. It's not the usual
action flick that comes out every summer, like Gone in 60 Seconds
or whatever, no, Swordfish actually has some brains behind it. I
can tell you right away what kind of hype I had for this movie. Now,
having had the chance to see this movie before its release was a big
treat. I really had some big expectations for this movie and it didn't
disappoint. This version of the movie tonight was mostly finished. Of
course, not all of the special effects were done yet, but overall it
looked like the final product (even the person introducing the movie
mentioned it was). Remember
the scene in the trailer that is towards the end when there's a big
explosion and cop cars go flying in a Matrix sort-of camera
style? In the movie it happens within the first ten minutes, which
ultimately sets up the amount and quality of action that follows in the
movie. There are movies whose action scenes are pretty mindless and filled
with sheer of eye candy. For example, Charlie's Angels is one of
those movie where the eye candy (explosions; you know the deal) is more
important than story and believability. Swordfish doesn't
necessarily do this. All of its action sequences have a point beneath them
(even if it involves high-wire gun play where a dozen people die). Said
sequences are very well done and play out beautifully, even though you can
sense they are a little bit contrived (but hell, it's fun). Swordfish's
opening pulls you directly into the main character's head; how and what he
thinks. Gabriel (played by John Travolta in a new bad ass look) is not the
average bad guy. He knows his stuff well, even if the odds are very much
against him. Swordfish starts in the future when the robbery
happens (beginning climax). For the first fifteen minutes we don't really
know for sure what and why things happen as they do. The movie goes back
three days before the big event to set up how it all came to be. It
properly introduces the main characters (besides Gabriel) who are Stanley
Jobson (Hugh Jackman), Ginger (Halle Berry), and FBI detective Roberts
(Don Cheadle). Stanley
Jobson, according to this movie, is supposed to be the world's best hacker
as I understood it. Detective Roberts busted him a couple of years ago for
hacking (what else) into a federal database. He spend time in prison, lost
his daughter to the drugged-out wife, and now slacks off in Texas hitting
golf balls from on top of his trailer. This is where Ginger comes in.
Gabriel sent her to make Stanley consider (and agree of course) taking on
a job that'd pay him $10 million (and even be able to regain custody of
his daughter). Slowly but surely, Stanley takes on the job to hack into a
mainframe and extract $9 billion of unused government funds (a figure
growing since the late 80s when Operation: Swordfish was set up).
Gabriel goes into a lot of the technical stuff that mainly involves Operation:
Swordfish and a secret government service force. Much of the
technicalities sound intriguing but are easily forgotten. After a little
over an hour into the basic set-up, that didn't always move as fast as it
should've, we're back at the bank robbery. What
follows resembles Dog Day Afternoon a bit. In the beginning,
Gabriel even addressed the movie. At first, we don't know who he's talking
to (add to that the focus-pulling every five seconds). After he's done
with his analysis of the movie and what happened in it (for example,
Gabriel argued about the way it ended), we see he's sitting in a cafe
talking to Roberts and Jobson. So that was kind of an interesting way to
start a movie that also deals with a large robbery (but in this one
everything is different and better planned out). The big action sequence
that follows involves a bus and a freight helicopter. It starts out very
well and is exciting to watch. The problems are that it is too long and
becomes ridiculous over time. The helicopter flies through L.A. downtown
with four great harnesses holding the buss. Something always goes wrong
and when it does here, it's just too much to take in and to consider the
possibility of it being believable enough. Swordfish
ends on a high note. You know how the bad guys never get away with it in
the end? "Not everything ends the way you think it should,"
Gabriel says to Stanley before he and his gang are leaving for way out
(airborne style). Like Houdini fooled audiences by making an elephant
disappear, Gabriel manages to trick Stanley, the cops, and the audiences
into believing he and his gang are dead. In no way can I possibly reveal
the ending, but lets just say it's a bit different than most (and a little
confusing as well, but why not). I
think Dominic Sena really took off with Swordfish to make it stand
out more than Gone in 60 Seconds. Granted, the story and action was
better. It's rating, which is going to be R for nudity, language, and
violence (I'm sure), is also an indicator that he wanted to make a movie
that's not among the lame PG-13 guidelines. Skip Woods, who wrote Swordfish,
seems like the kind of guy who'll write action regardless of the budget.
Since Joel Silver produced this movie, I guess it worked out for the
best. The acting was very solid; nothing wrong there. With all of the hype
surrounding Swordfish, I really think it could make some mad money.
Maybe, just maybe, it can get Travolta's screen presence and such off the
ground. I was into Swordfish for more than 3/4 of the time, which
constitutes that it wasn't all that perfect (for my taste), but very good
indeed. And did I tell you about what Halle Berry does one hour into the
movie? Look at what the trailer is trying to tease you with. Anyway, I
really enjoyed Swordfish, even though it had some minor flaws.
-- Dabbler In The Arts.
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