| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
C |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
B |
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| Visuals: |
C+ |
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Not bad
by teraflop (movies profile)
Oct 7, 2006
4
of
5 people found this review helpful
First of all, I am a fan of Jean Claude - starting from his Bloodsport days - I always respected his energy, demeanor, and fish-out-of-water nature.
Second of all, his recent films have disappointed me.
Therefore I picked up this film with little thought but some trepidation. The degree of trepidation grew as I realised that, like Wesley Snipes, Jean Claude has fallen into the "trap" of east european film-making. I have no idea why this phenomenon occurs, but it's something I've seen.
Instead, though the story is very tired, that of rescuing & holding a valuable political asset regardless of the cost, what was fresh was the context: the voting-out of communist regimes. Think things go silly when that happens? Take a look at the Ukraine.
As other reviewers mentioned, camaraderie was highlighted, it added guts to the blood 'n' guts nature of this kind of film. Jean Claude acted well, direction was ok though I would have pushed for better make-up and lighting - it made the ex-pat local westerners acting as extras and character actors kind of plastic.
I'm speaking from production quality because this is where a film of the eastern european variety is usually lacking. Big stars can't save a sinking ship but Jean Claude prevents it from capsizing in this case, as does some good direction. Overall, thumbs up, but remember, I'm a Jean Claude fan. |
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