Swordfish

Another re-post of a recent review...

In summary - non-action fans need not apply.

SUMMARY

A computer hacker (Hugh Jackman) is hired by the leader of a secret organization (John Travolta) to help steal billions from the DEA.


RECOMMENDED FOR:

Fans of action thrillers with terrorists, explosions and a plot with the occasional twist involving terrorists and/or explosions, who hold all other factors in a film as negligible.


REVIEW

Swordfish is a purely escapist story of hackers, spies, terrorists, the occasional corrupt senator, and a lot of explosions.

Warning for the picky: As with all films involving any form of computer hacking, The Matrix aside, there is quite an abundance of cute proprietary graphical interfaces on every computer in Swordfish. However, this is tolerable, as it is taken to an extent that is not quite as ludicrous as, say, Sandra Bullock breaking into a major corporation by clicking on a pi symbol, or Jeff Goldblum's PowerBook flashing "UPLOADING VIRUS" in big red letters while connected to an alien mothership.

The only real reason to see Swordfish is to see new action sequences set to the latest variation on the classic criminal-mastermind-robs-a-bank plot. It is never anything more than just another gratuitously violent action movie that takes its carnage lightly and exists purely for spectacle, targeting the kind of audience that would be entertained by the sight of a hostage wrapped in C-4 explosives ignite in a ball of fire in midair.

Looking for characters, meaning, heart and soul? Don't even bother with this one. Swordfish is all about the action. It is precisely aimed at the average escapist action audience. In addition to this, it is actually worth watching for the average action fan because it is driven by an action-film plot that does not solely tread over old ground, albeit not groundbreakingly original.

The action scenes themselves are well-staged, with plenty of neat surprises and bit explosions. The only one that begs for complaint is the opening sequence, which captures an explosion in a side-scrolling cheap imitation Diet Coke of Matrix bullet-time - an ambitious attempt at a memorable shot of an explosion, but one that comes off as cheesy.

Among the more amusing moments is a direct jab at Linux creator Linus Torvalds. Did anyone else catch it?

To sum up, at the tip of its snout, Swordfish is an action thriller with a degree of quality that depends on the audience's tolerance for unrestrained violence.