fortunesfool
09-09-2003, 08:53 AM
I caught this rather cool movie on the plane coming back from Australia and was very impressed with it then.
However, I realised that airline versions are not always the best way to appreciate a film and so was delighted to find it screening in 1 (yup just 1) cinema when I returned home.
So best mate in tow I went to see it again and its still a cool movie.
The second movie from the director of 'cube' it would appear to be in release limbo in the US for some inexplicable reason so I thought i'd tell you all what you're missing.
Starting with boring salesman, Jeremy Northam going for a job as a company spy it all seems a little to stylish for its own good. The dialogue early on is stilted and emotionless ( like episode 1 but not as funny) but it soon picks up as the film starts weaving its story.
Lucy Liu appears (apparently from a shampoo ad judging by the slow-mo, soft focus hair flicking. A problem that will pop up all through the film.). She seems to be one step ahead of Northam and tells him he's being brain washed by the Company to be used as an undercover agent against there competition.
Now armed with anti-brain washing drugs, Northam ( and audience) have to endure what he is usually drugged through.
Possibly the films bravura sequence and i'm not gonna spoil it for you suffice to say its pretty creepy.
Now Northam leads the company to believe he's brain washed and is sent to the competition to do some spying.
Now the competition spot him right away and ask him to be a double agent.
Northam is unsure so he asks Lucy Liu for help. She says her boss Sebastian Rooks will help him if he works for him as a triple agent.
Bloody Hell.
To go into more detail will spoil many of the films twists and cool moments. So I wont.
To sum up though, this is an intelligent, stylish and fun movie. A good story simply told. It manages to shrug off its low budget-ness with a couple of cool set pieces and designs.
Jeremy Northam is great in his role as he moves from geeky salesman to confused spy. Lucy Liu has little to do except flick her hair, look pretty and appear in various X-files like outfits and the rest of the cast ( okay I don't know who they are) are uniformally great.
A very worthy, head scratching sci-fi movie then with only a few cheesy moments of shampoo ad photography to spoil it a little.
Oh and don't tell anyone who Rooks is.
However, I realised that airline versions are not always the best way to appreciate a film and so was delighted to find it screening in 1 (yup just 1) cinema when I returned home.
So best mate in tow I went to see it again and its still a cool movie.
The second movie from the director of 'cube' it would appear to be in release limbo in the US for some inexplicable reason so I thought i'd tell you all what you're missing.
Starting with boring salesman, Jeremy Northam going for a job as a company spy it all seems a little to stylish for its own good. The dialogue early on is stilted and emotionless ( like episode 1 but not as funny) but it soon picks up as the film starts weaving its story.
Lucy Liu appears (apparently from a shampoo ad judging by the slow-mo, soft focus hair flicking. A problem that will pop up all through the film.). She seems to be one step ahead of Northam and tells him he's being brain washed by the Company to be used as an undercover agent against there competition.
Now armed with anti-brain washing drugs, Northam ( and audience) have to endure what he is usually drugged through.
Possibly the films bravura sequence and i'm not gonna spoil it for you suffice to say its pretty creepy.
Now Northam leads the company to believe he's brain washed and is sent to the competition to do some spying.
Now the competition spot him right away and ask him to be a double agent.
Northam is unsure so he asks Lucy Liu for help. She says her boss Sebastian Rooks will help him if he works for him as a triple agent.
Bloody Hell.
To go into more detail will spoil many of the films twists and cool moments. So I wont.
To sum up though, this is an intelligent, stylish and fun movie. A good story simply told. It manages to shrug off its low budget-ness with a couple of cool set pieces and designs.
Jeremy Northam is great in his role as he moves from geeky salesman to confused spy. Lucy Liu has little to do except flick her hair, look pretty and appear in various X-files like outfits and the rest of the cast ( okay I don't know who they are) are uniformally great.
A very worthy, head scratching sci-fi movie then with only a few cheesy moments of shampoo ad photography to spoil it a little.
Oh and don't tell anyone who Rooks is.