Swordfish
2001 Directed by Dominic Sena
Synopsis
Log On. Hack In. Go Anywhere. Get Everything.
Rogue agent Gabriel Shear is determined to get his mitts on $9 billion stashed in a secret Drug Enforcement Administration account. He wants the cash to fight terrorism, but lacks the computer skills necessary to hack into the government mainframe. Enter Stanley Jobson, a n'er-do-well encryption expert who can log into anything.
Cast
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Even Halle's Berries can't save this one.
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As dumb as I always assumed it was, but if I'd known it was this hilariously ridiculous, I would have watched it a long time ago. Feels like the screenwriter read one book about hacking and everyone else assumed that he nailed it. A perfect subject for an episode of "How Did This Get Made?" Halle Berry's breasts are much more attractively shot and lit here than in Monster's Ball, and I'd rather watch this again than Monster's Ball, so there's that.
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My first impression from the way the film started, with John Travolta talking about heist films within a heist film, was that it was a little bit sickly. Sometimes, that kind of thing is done in a really clever way and adds an extra layer to the film. Here, it was quite smug and knowing. But the scene immediately following that little chat in the cafe was absolutely fantastic. The way it played out from the moment the camera zooms out of the close up on Travolta to the second the explosion is over was amazing.
Amazing.. and misleading.
The moment that first 5-10 minutes was over, the film took a massive nose-dive. I generally quite enjoy Hugh Jackman's performances.…
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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What do we have?
Travolta monologuing as only he can - not half bad.
A great bullet-time explosion, so costly they choose to show it twice to get their moneys worth - not half bad.
Hugh Jackman playing the worlds most improbable Hacker, no one in the IT departments I've worked with have his charisma or play the keyboard as frantic as Elton John like he does here. - not half bad.
A flash of some overpriced boobs, Halle Berry reportedly got $500,000, nice work if you can get it - not half bad.
A car chase thats not half bad.
The most overcomplicated bank heist in movie history - not half bad.
Overall I think I'm going to rate this (you've guessed it)
NOT HALF BAD -
There's two great things about Swordfish. Halle Berry's left tit and Halle Berry's right tit. Ok, in all seriousness Swordfish is not a very good movie. It's problem is that that the thrills come first and the characters come second. The movie seems to forget that you need to care about a character in order to feel the suspense and Hugh Jackman's character isn't particularly interesting. It tells us that Hugh can't be with his daughter but it doesn't tell us why we should care. We know nothing about his back-story or his interests. We nothing about who he is as a person. All we know is that(for an unexplained reason) he has a restraining order against his daughter and…
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As dumb as I always assumed it was, but if I'd known it was this hilariously ridiculous, I would have watched it a long time ago. Feels like the screenwriter read one book about hacking and everyone else assumed that he nailed it. A perfect subject for an episode of "How Did This Get Made?" Halle Berry's breasts are much more attractively shot and lit here than in Monster's Ball, and I'd rather watch this again than Monster's Ball, so there's that.
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Limp techno-thriller that's mainly only notable for Halle Berry's breasts, and John Travolta's wig.
Of course, any film that concentrates on technology instantly dates itself, but this attempts to offset that by weaving in some heist thriller tropes. None of it really works though, and despite its Hollywood gloss, proceedings are more tedious than anything.
Hugh Jackman plays a fairly convincing straight man though, so that's something.
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There's two great things about Swordfish. Halle Berry's left tit and Halle Berry's right tit. Ok, in all seriousness Swordfish is not a very good movie. It's problem is that that the thrills come first and the characters come second. The movie seems to forget that you need to care about a character in order to feel the suspense and Hugh Jackman's character isn't particularly interesting. It tells us that Hugh can't be with his daughter but it doesn't tell us why we should care. We know nothing about his back-story or his interests. We nothing about who he is as a person. All we know is that(for an unexplained reason) he has a restraining order against his daughter and…
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Great actors. Great action. Great story.
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I wish this is the Travolta that showed up in more movies! Jackman looks so much younger, and odd with an earring.
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I mainly remember that this was the first movie to use the "Bullet Time" effect that was popularized in The Matrix. That happens in like, the first 5 minutes and is kinda cool. The rest of the movie is pretty standard action stuff, with nothing else particularly memorable other than a really dumb ending and some Halle Berry nudity. I do remember that the film starts with Travolta criticizing Dog Day Afternoon. Tip - if your movie criticizes another movie, don't criticize a classic movie while you are delivering a generic one.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Entertaining. Decent script, cool FX during the opening sequence. Halle Berry looks hot. John Travolta has a big head. Soundtrack is rockin'.