LW-08854

A pretty fun ride on this mystery movie that has a pretty good atmosphere. I felt confused at the start, then really drawn into the plot, then slightly bemused by the end. The performances are strong and as mentioned there's a real style anc atmosphere to it. It does get slightly implausible and looking back its not as tight and clockwork as it would seem, the scheme depends on a near perfect foreknowledge almost nobody could really have. I did enjoy it overall though and was pleased to be challenged in trying to work out what different characters were up to. All in all a pretty tight thriller with a few holes in it. Shame it couldn't quite pull it off.

This film is a real nasty shock. I recall watching it many years ago and thinking it was a bit cheesy but now I'm almost of the opinion it's unwatchable. After a pointless space battle opening we are introduced to a pretty unbelievable family, who are all super geniuses of course, including a small boy forced to deliver dialogue that just sounds ridiculous coming from him. The acting, the characters, the special effects are maximum cheese. Garry Oldman is completely toothless in this movie, he's just a bothersome irritation not a proper villain.

You also notice there's no real exploration of earth's problems, what it is that's really driving their mission. The family to be honest don't even look like a family, the daughter is blonde, the brother has brown hair, and the other sister black hair. The costumes are ridiculous they look like something from Batman and Robin. So much makes no logical sense like why does the dad professor suddenly transform into action man. So much of the film neglects relationships in favour of action that the ending felt so uninvolved because they'd not even bothered to set up a proper emotional conflict.

A cgi monkey and a robot also appear in the movie and seem largely there in order to try and sell toys.

You can praise some of the sound design but thats it really in terms of anything good to praise.

In summary a very negative review from me.

Whike not terrible there's a weight of disappointment which hangs over you when this ends. Nobody really becomes an interesting character, in fact they're all a bit bland and lifeless. Aspects of the plot require you to accept characters repeatedly make poo decisions and seem to simply react to what the writer wants rather than their actions feeling natural. All the action sequences lack plausibility, in the fight our heroes glasses always stay on too no matter what. Anne Archer is given terribly scripted dialogue at one point, trying to invoke a 1940s film noire style but feeling so out of place in a 90s movie. There's not much thrill to the thriller as we're so far ahead of its characters. A final twist at the end has no pay off and the death which follows is borderline comical in its conception.