SYNOPSIS:
When
Max Peterson receives a series of mysterious cell phone messages
that promise him untold wealth, he soon finds himself the
victim of a deadly international plot. Chased by a lethal
team of government operatives, Max races across the planet
in a desperate attempt to unravel a conspiracy that threatens
the stability of the entire world.
MOVIE REVIEW:
We’ve
heard it somewhere before – how the world we live in
is nothing but a web of conspiracies which has us mere mortals
as chess pieces willingly manipulated by A Greater Force.
Our surroundings are set up in ways we have never imagined.
Seemingly harmless objects like your personal computer, your
digital camera and your cell phone have all been configured
so that this Greater Force can watch over you to achieve a
Greater objective. Such is the morbid fear we have to live
in, and how natural that writers and directors have repeatedly
attempted to explore this world in books and movies. And with
this DVD lying in our hands, are we going to get anything
new? Sadly, no.
Director Greg Marcks makes a movie about a globe-trotting
techie whose job is to install security systems on computers
in multinational companies around the world. He receives an
anonymous gift in the Czech Republic, an almost perfect gadget
which comes in the form of a phone that can send messages
that enable him to win lots of money at the casino. It seems
like a godsend present, until he realises that this is a conspiracy
which involves every security camera around the world. Who
can he trust to find out the root of this conspiracy?
A more important question to ask ourselves is, who can we
trust to make such a dire and flat movie any more engaging?
We are not particularly excited to see main lead Shane West
(A Walk to Remember, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)
running around from location to location looking frantic.
Nor are we particularly excited to find out the “oh
so innovative” twist the filmmakers tried so hard to
stall till the last minute. What we are interested in is,
why the accomplished Martin Sheen (The West Wing) agreed to
be in this forgettable self touted thriller. He looks particularly
unbothered by his role, and it doesn’t help to bring
the movie forward at all.
Sure, the movie does remind you of the much more superior
Jason Bourne series, where the hero travels to world to save
the day, but this 105 minute movie is such a chore to sit
through, you’d be wanting the adventure to end. There
are the obligatory action sequences which are only passable
when it comes to adrenaline level, and the uninspired pacing
of the movie just makes this a pitifully B grade action thriller
that is wasted on the respectable cast which includes Ed Burns,
Ving Rhames and Jonathan Pryce. Seriously, you’d be
better off reading about world threatening conspiracies than
having to sit through this dreadful mess.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
There isn’t much to complain about the
movie’s visual transfer, and if you are bothered to
sit through the movie, you could enjoy the English dialogue
in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review by John Li
Posted on 12 October 2009
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