Reviews

A larger-than-life production with some interesting characters and talented camerawork. I liked the revelry in colour and the inventive weapons and predicaments. If there is a quibble, it is the rather condescending treatment of Italian villagers in the final shots. For a film that seemed to care about its audience, it was annoying to receive the impression that its would be less than likely that its audience would contain these people. Three (out of five).

Embarrassing for the British that their mistaken ambition to be part of the Hollywood "class" is so openly ridiculed by the flagging Julia Roberts. And the scene in the cafe, after her scene in blue, when Grant is encouraging his friends to take him seriously? A film called Notting Hill to celebrate American agoraphobia? Grant calling his flatmate a "Welsh w**ker"? Welcome to London. One star for the dog.

The machines are against us! If you've ever used computers to a deadline, you'll know this story was more than a film! A boy hacks cashpoints as his only means to live. A sane woman is incarcerated for telling the truth. A morphing robot murders without thought, and our only hope is to humanize electronics. What does that tell you about the decade this film capped? More than Orwell's 1984 reflecting its present, this scary film magnified social barbarism and the consequences of non-moral information processing.

A superb Dutch film, with truly suspenseful moments! Nothing is quite so sinister as stretches of silence in movies, especially when they accompany Hitchcockian (which is to say here, predictable) suspense sequences. From the moment you read the synopsis, and figure that a film about bewitched microchips cannot expect to be taken seriously, you'd be forgiven for laughing at yourself for even contemplating seeing the film. However, If you're like me, and you consider that music, background noise, post-production, lipsynching, subliminal messaging goes too far in films, rendering terrible scenes risibly hyperactive, then you'll get off on the real-time sparsity of effects used here. Each delay to the denouement, agonisingly adds to the deathtoll. Is this going to change the world? Would a suspiciously murderous lift, in the real world? Tell the director, I'd like to see more.

I had the strange feeling after watching this film, that I had seen all the parts somewhere else, like Miami Vice, or a Vanilla Ice film, all bright sunlight, schmoozy parties, and tough talk. In short, it's a day out for the SFX team, and a waste of the multi-purpose Specialist title. Stranger too, because Sharon Stone is not a useless actress, nor Stallone, when he puts his mind to it, nor Woods. The film was a money trap only, I suggest, and viewers wanting substance shouldn't bother. One Star for the sheer gall.