This one delivers more bang for the buck (& little else)
Sever- Lucy Liu
Jeremiah Ecks- Antonio Banderas
Zane- Roger R. Cross
Director- Wych Kaosayanada
30 Second Bottom Line: Two super agents assigned to kill each other discover a common enemy.
Story Line: I know this is the section where I should talk about the story line & the plot, but I pretty much covered it in the 30 second bottom line.
Tell me more about it: When it comes to movies, one philosophy rules above any and all others; & no it's not "let us attempt to produce high quality, entertaining cinema." It goes a little more like: "if it works for their movie, why not mine?" I believe the success of this summer's blockbuster "XXX"will lead to several movies following in its footsteps, as it does away with plot and drama and instead fills the screen with bullets and explosions. And quite frankly, as far as being entertained goes that's no big problem for me. All the while in great locations of course (this time it's Vancouver, British Columbia).
In 1991 a young filmmaker named Quentin Tarrentino made a movie called "Reservoir Dogs." In that film he utilized a technique of playing scenes in slow motion to relay drama, not exactly ground breaking stuff but powerful to say the least. By no means was he the first, but one could argue he was the best of his time at doing it. Since then the list of movies that have utilized the same technique is almost endless & in Hollywood where parody means "taking someone else's good idea and using it like your own," "Ballistic" does a pretty good job. Actually they over-do it, but it does look good.
Both Liu & Banderas "turn off the sexy" for this film (Banderas actually keeps his shirt on the entire film! I thought he only did that in the "Spy Kids" movies). I know that its normal for the man in movies to get top billing, but in truth Banderas' "Ecks" plays second fiddle to Liu's "Sever," she is stoic, intense and believable in the fight sequences. Neither one of them are called on to stretch their dramatic muscles too much, actually at all. But they do a wonderful job walking, punching, kicking and shooting big guns in slow motion.
The explosions, the cinematography & some amazing stunts make the movie worth the price of admission; but be advised this movie is pretty shallow.
DVD