Willing Suspension of Disbelief

Movie reviews from someone who loves movies

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The Detonator (2006)

Plot


Homeland security agent in Romania for a gun sting must accompany a witness/accomplice/suspect back to the USA. He is caught in a web of CIA and terrorist plot against the USA.

The Good


Watchability


This is a watchable movie (+1). Right at the beginning there is a terrible mistake. There is a sign “Soviet Military Arsenal” in Cyrillic looking English letters. In the Soviet Union. WTF! It should have had the sign in Russian, and an onscreen note to the viewer as to what it was. Thus, from the beginning of the movie, the trust relationship between the viewer and the director was lost.
There is some intentional humor. (+1) The characterizations are meager, at best. No one in the movie makes us care about them, and, early on it is obvious who the internal bad-guy is.

Story Line


The story line is marginally believable. (+1) Though, the two bad guys don’t even have throw-away lines to describe why they have become bad.
This movie appears to be a vehicle for Wesley Snipes to become the next Steven Seagal. Will Wesley continue to make action movies even when he is old and fat? Besides, it is a turned-on-its-head remake of the movie Detonator (from 2003). The viewer won’t care about the characters, or the situations they find themselves in.

Acting


It appears that most of the actors were just going through the motions here. Snipes is at his best when sardonic and ironic or completely action-oriented. There are some scenes that deliver this, but they are few and far between. Every other actor appears frozen except when cowering. The best acting we get is when the characters are unconscious.

The Bad


Russians don’t use signs in English (see above) (-1)
There is plenty of violence. Most of it is designed to tell us about the characters or to mark off another plot device.
The sex in the movie is off camera, and is designed to show an emotional attachment. But, the lead actresses costumes are designed for the sole purpose of showing off her plastic cleavage. (-1/2)

The Ugly


+1 to +2: Watch this if you have nothing better to do.

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