| Overall Grade: |
D- |
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| Story: |
D |
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| Acting: |
C |
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| Direction: |
D+ |
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| Visuals: |
B- |
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Another Propaganda Film
by Ron (movies profile)
Mar 1, 2009
11
of
12 people found this review helpful
It used to be that if Martin Sheen were in a movie, that was a good sign. Now it's a red flag. I didn't see any promos for this movie or knew that he was in it. As soon as I saw his name on the screen during opening credits, I thought "Uh-oh."
I can't remember the last time Sheen was in a good movie, and the Echelon Conspiracy is his latest effort at using his left-wing views to self-destruct what's left (no pun intended) of his career.
There isn't much good that can be said of this film. While the year is young, it is currently my top contender for worst movie of the year. I certainly hope that 2009 will not get any worse than this.
This is essentially an anti-Patriot Act propaganda film, where a computer named Echelon has been created that can pretty much take over every network in the world and suck up all the information. It is so powerful that it can take over the web-cam in your notebook computer and watch your every move, all in the name of fighting terrorism.
I'm sure lefties will eat this stuff up even though this is a completely brain-dead characterization of the Patriot Act. And Martin Sheen can be counted on to play up the evil right-wing Raymond Burke, who supports the Echelon computer. Burke even has the classic Alfred E Neuman (What, Me Worry?) style George Bush portrait hanging in his office.
Evidently Sheen didn't get the memo. Bush is out of office, hope is the in thing now, and we hope Obama's record on keeping the nation safe will be as good as W's.
Shane West plays the hapless engineer Max Peterson, who becomes ensnared in Echelon's power. Our advice to West as he tries to navigate his post-ER career is to steer clear of really crappy movie scripts. You don't need to be this desperate, man.
Some of the most horrid character development in cinematic history develops between him and love interest Kamila, played by Tamera Feldman. The only point seems to be to insert a sex scene between Peterson and Kamila.
Following is possibly a spoiler alert but hopefully I've saved you from seeing this awful film anyway. The ending is tantamount to a rip-off of a tired old science fiction plot concept similar to the Star Trek episode, The Changeling. In that episode, Kirk encounters a robot run-amok named Nomad. Nomad is on a rampage to sterilize (e.g. destroy) anything imperfect. Using logic, Kirk convinces Nomad that it too is imperfect and therefore must also be destroyed. Nomad then self-destructs. That was a great plot concept in 1967 but this is 2009, and we've been there, done that.
If that's not insulting enough, you'll be subjected to a feel-good lecture by the much wiser Russians who have successfully steered the Americans into ridding the world of the freedom-threatening Echelon. And we all know why we should listen to Russians when it comes to freedom. You're left asking "What was that???" |
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