Genres

Visitors Review

Cornell & Petricelli 2012-05-24 07:49:38

The most mesmerizing and refreshing action film of the last three years.

DuctTapeMahn 2012-05-23 17:19:37

A Rating System

Okay, It's like this: my scale for movies include multiple things, and allhave to be present for the greatest number of stars, 10, in this case.Well,first, since this was an action film, it has to be an action rating system.It's just plain common sense to have different rating systems for differentgenres, while all stick to a specific guideline.-Big name actor(s) in main role(s)-Big name director-Big name producer-Developed plot-Multiple large explosions and gun fights-The "F Word" used properly in each usage-NudityThose are the seven marks for an action movie, and SWORDFISH met every oneof those marks, so it gets the full 10 stars here (my normal is seven, astar for each mark).

2012-05-21 08:44:24

It understates the U.S. What is the point? (2 1/2 stars)

The clashing between antitrust worlds, one man (Hugh Jackman) seeking his daughter back by doing evil, and one (John Travolta) seeking to protect the United States by sacrificing the whole U.S. if necessary, and dragging behind is Halle Berry, with a side dish of star, Don Cheadle who is out to eliminate cyber-terrorists.This is a confused, but simple premise conceived by Producer, Joel Silver, and put into action by Director, Dominic Sena. What is driving this film? ...Possibly just the password: Swordfish. It unlocks the key to some of the most deadly people in the world, and holds tight the secrets of what our government doesn't want us to get our hands on: LOTS OF MONEY. The story of this film completely turns around what our country is built on. John Travolta knows all the secrets of our world, but he needs a code-cracker, a man on the side. Because Hugh Jackman is a master of computer networking disaster, John Travolta recruits him onto his jacket of bull rags, in exchange for $10 Million and Jackman also gets his daughter back, who was taken from him by his ex-wife. Hugh is the true star of the film. What drives him is his love for his daughter. What drives Travolta is his need of dominate power over the world (and that moronic beard of his). What divides these characters is Halle Berry, who's one particular scene (when you see it you'll know what I mean) is basically the reasoning for her character even in the film at all. She pretends as though she likes both Hugh and John. You never really know who she's really working for because she is a side changing woman (or just playing hard to get). Her life is a web of conspiracy spread over both of these characters, but you never really figure her out until the end. I'm not sure if Don Cheadle makes a big difference in the film or not. He plays an investigator who is out to put an end to the malevolent hackers. Yet, if you remove him from the film, nothing is really missing. His filming probably wrapped up in a day or two because his chracter doesn't hold much ground. He's really not a supporting character, he's just there.One thing I've heard about this film is the explosions. I don't know why critics are making remarks about them. There is only one that stands out in the film, which takes place in the very beginning. It's filmed in a very futuristic, slow-moving process focusing on oozy washes of flames, breaking glass and flying people. (It's a little hard to express in words.) I expected the film to have a lot of explosions, but the only real one, in the opening sequence was far too different and strange, especially for what I was thinking it was going to be.Another action scene features Hugh Jackman and John Travolta in their beautiful car, speeding away from the mayor's agents. Travolta pulls out his powerful assault rifle and blows them all away. It is very fast and fun, somewhat original, far from realistic, but still enjoyable.The only other rock-em-sock-em action is featured in the end of the movie where we pick up from what happens in the beginning. A terrorized bus, led by Travolta, is lifted by helicopter when the police swarm the area and a city skyscraper is smashed on the face, leaving a big hole on one region of the building. It is very good, and amazingly original. I only question whether or not a helicopter could support a bus and the busload of people on it.What this film does not build on is the characters. It has an interesting plot, but it could possibly be hard to conceive. It just takes a little of computer hacker scandal, then drops it with the "little-less" than standard action technique. Joel Silver repeats his mistakes that he made with Exit Wounds. The action wasn't as furious as I would've hoped it to be. It has some originality in action scenes, but it doesn't have enough. I still question the point of the film, and many of the plot pieces.I'm still caught between the good and evil of the film. However this film may have tried to present itself, it still is a low standard action film with some originality in dramatic sequences that is meant to cover up what really lurks beneath. Travolta is still just a villain, even if his facial hair is strange. Hugh Jackman is just a good guy who tries to live a simple life by temporarily helping out the bad guys for money. Halle Berry is just a tag along who's only point for the movie is to have a topless scene so more male viewers are attracted to the picture. And Don Cheadle is that same old let loose investigator who is determined to stop the bad guys, who is unaware that the good guy on the bad side is an ally. So in reality, there is nothing new here, and it just makes a confusing plot so techno that it tries to cover up what it really is. It might work for some, but I get what it's all about. The title of the film, and the password in the movie are both about the same thing. SWORDFISH = MONEY, and there isn't much anything else to it.QUOTE: "There is some new scale scenes, and brief action sequences to feast on, but that is only "brief". Otherwise we have a nonshalance plot consisting of the everyday standard action film characters that still haven't changed in over one-hundred years. The film promotes itself with Halle Berry without a shirt on, and an opening explosion. John Travolta fails again, Hugh Jackman does well, Halle Berry loses her shirt, Don Cheadle yells and rolls down a hill, Dominic Sena's respect takes a downfall, and Producer Joel Silver keeps making the same action movie over and over and over. So what is the point of a film manipulating the United States' honor and presenting itself as boringly overdone and repeated? Swordfish has some action scenes and a worthy performance from Hugh Jackman, but nothing else comes to bare. So why should the audience even care?"

jaxon9 2012-05-20 14:33:52

God Bless the $5.25 matinee

Well, the opening sequence is cool, from there they threw out the book oforiginality and picked up the "Summer Movie Checklist" Car chase withrequisite explosions? Check. Cheesy "expert-hacker" montage with technomusic overlay? Check. Main character using a weapon (rocket launcher) theywould realistically have no way of knowing how to operate? Check. To complete the checklist, they needed the "undercover detectivesmeeting at a strip club" "sidewalk vegetable vendor cart being smashed byrunaway car" and "men carrying large pane of glass across the street"sequences. I will forgive the omission of the strip club sequence b/c theydid show Halle Berry topless. Kiddies save your money to rent the videothough, it's only like 4 seconds total and after you buy popcorn and sodayou're out 15 bucks to see 4 seconds of boobs. They're nice..but not THATnice. Finish off with a "surprise" ending and you have a lot of flash, verylittle substance and quite a few ideas that probably looked ok on paper butnever got fully treated in the film version. Go in with the idea thatyou're not paying to see Citizen Kane caliber movie-making and you'll be ok.6 out of 10

Scott Chitwood 2012-05-18 16:35:22

Some good performances, but otherwise nothing memorable.

Boba_Fett1138 2012-05-18 09:29:23

An action movie that desperately tries to be more.

"Swordfish" certainly ain't no bad movie but the way they tried to givethis movie many layers and deeper meanings and tried to explain themotives of the main 'villain' is totally pointless and makes this moviedrift away from what it should had been; Some mindless action-fun. Amovie like this should need no mind work.Definitely nothing wrong with the talent involved in this movie.Dominic Sena isn't a bad action director and the movie has a wonderfulvisual style, also thanks to cinematographer Paul Cameron, who has agreat style. If you have seen "Man on Fire" and "Collateral" you knowwhat I mean. Also nothing wrong with the cast here; John Travolta, HughJackman and Halle Berry together in one movie, is the dream for everyfilmmaker.Then were did it go wrong? Well, it went wrong with the script. Ittries to give the movie so many more layers and deeper meanings that itdistracts from the action and make this movie even a slow one at times.Yes, luckily the movie still has some good action sequences and hey ithas got John Travolta as the bad guy who is always at his best in roleslike these but it all ain't enough to make this movie just slightlyabove average.Also the whole hacking concept is original but also kind of ridicules,this is probably due to the graphic effects of all those computerprograms. They literally tried to show graphically by computer imageson the screen how an hacker works. This of course is not how it worksin real-life and takes away some of the credibility of the movie thatobviously tried to create a realistic atmosphere.Yes it certainly is a watchable movie but it's not really a veryentertaining one.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Steve Tilley 2012-05-18 11:18:52

Action movies are supposed to be dumb, but they're not supposed to be stupid.

lordmoonie 2012-05-18 00:19:28

absurd plotline and eye candy can't save this moronic movie

In the opening sequence of the movie, John Travolta laments the lack ofrealism in the Hollywood movie industry. As this over the top movie racesthrough its seemingly endless scenes of gratuitous violence, overkill andoveracting, I could only wonder at the illogical hypocrisy of thisargument.The absurd plotline, surprisingly there is one, merely provides amechanismfor delivering pointless car chases, gunfights and explosions, even HalleBerry's much publicised topless scene was so shameless gratuitous andunappealling, I couldn't see what the fuss was about. And as for the hiptechno-gadgetry that underlines the movie, I wonder whether the productionteam had any semblance of an idea of what goes on the hacking world, I meancan you imagine Kevin Mitnick hacking into the FBI mainframe in 60 secondswith a gun at his head and a blonde between his legs?When Travolta reveals the motive for his maniacal tendencies - to hit backhard at terrorists who threaten the good old US of A, I cringed at theprospect of American Neanderthals whooping in support.Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for High Octance adventure movies, but whenthey're made as awfully as Swordfish, they deserve to be left as awarningto other directors.

George Parker 2012-05-11 04:45:30

See Travolta smirk. See Berry's boobs. See Jackman type. See...

"Swordfish" is a rock'em, sock'em action no-brainer with Travolta as adeliciously likeable villain, Berry as a deliciously topless DEA agent,Jackman as a the world's faster typist, and Cheadle as an FBI agent. Nottobe taken seriously, this flick rocks with all the stuff we've come toexpectfrom Hollyweird...star power, stunts, pyro, visual effects, busses flying,bullets whizzing, cars crashing, yadayadayada. A must see for actionjunkiesand enjoyable mindless escapism for others.Note - the plot, feeble as it may be, is eerily more poignant since9-11.

2012-05-10 07:53:08

not as bad as all that!

I found "Swordfish", aside from its predictable ending, to be an enjoyable action ride from beginning to end.Jackman, Travolta, Berry and Cheadle are all very watchable in this movie. Being a fan of the pure-escape action genre ( I refer to Bruce Willis' classics as the "Die-Hard Trilogy" ), I can only assume that those that pan "Swordfish" are not fans of the genre to begin with.

vhilden 2012-05-09 14:34:07

Don't waste your time on this

Some good action thrillers have jumpy cameras, woody characters andridiculous plots, but this is not one of those. I mean, it's not good,although it does have all those defects. If it had the slightest bitof humor, maybe it could work somehow as a parody, but that's not thecase. I give it a 1, because it's so unremarkable it doesn't deserve azero.By the way, there's a character named 'Torvalds', which is wasting agood cross-reference, since anyone who would enjoy this crap doesn'thave any idea of what that name means. And that southern-europeanlooking guy, who was supposedly a Finn, spoke some sort of pig-latinthat had no resemblance at all with any of the two languages spoken inFinland. I should know, because I speak both.

Sky_Captain_Joe_Sullivan 2012-05-09 01:36:00

Another lousy Travolta movie.

Johnny T. plays a terrorist who fights terrorists that attack the freedom ofthe U.S.Glossy, super-ficial, and not worth your time or money.There is even a"Matrix" style rip-off.Rating:*1/2 (out of five)

2012-05-06 11:10:35

No thanks

Star power, but weak Hollywood plot. Cool opening scene, but that's it.

gezoes 2012-05-06 04:08:24

Finally - More realism

I don't understand why this movie doesn't get a rating of at least 7.It isn't a masterpiece but it deserves more. The start is excellent.What is being said and done in the first 15 minutes, that's what I'vebeen yelling for years. Finally: More realism.Travolta is great as the bad guy. He needed to make up after thehorrific Battlefield Earth, WHAT IN EARTH made him make this? It soooobad, I'm amazed his career didn't crash a second time. I heard thismovie was made under influence of Scientology, well...judging from BEwe have nothing to fear from them, LOL.Travolta's text in the beginning of Swordfish was music to my ears. Farfrom the usual like for example Ed Harris chickening out at the end ofthe Rock: "Let's just bring the missile back. I don't really want toblow up a stadium full of people". It completely ruined the movie forme.Swordfish is an exception as some of the people in the movie actuallydie, where they always would survive in other movies. The police ishaving a lot of trouble with Gabriel, Travolta's character, without thepolice being stupidly portrayed. "Hollywood makes crap, realism, that'swhat lacks in movies these days. Governments will always give in if youhave a lot of hostages and you kill 30 or 40 of them." Travolta's linesin the beginning. He's winking at some of Al Pacino's movies and has avery GOOD point. You'll have a great time. The rest of the movie ispretty basic in the action genre but the beginning and the end arenon-Hollywood. Finally...a very nice action movie which takes a wholeother track then the usual good guys vs bad guys and Americanflagwaving and morale bla-bla...Enjoy!Downers:- The main character is in 'the job' for the money to save his daughterfrom the clutches of his ex-wife. The blackmail that he encounters justisn't convincing at all.- Once again there is a Matrix slow-down-time-scene. Boring and notoriginal anymore.

Imnozy 2012-04-30 03:11:47

Much ado about nothing very much

Nothing on this earth would have made me watch this movie - had it not beenfor its stars Hugh Jackman and John Travolta - not to mention Halle Berry. Ididn't expect much of it, having read its publicity - and it offered nosurprises, but with such a good cast I would have hoped formore.The heist thing has been done better on many occasions, the special effectswere no better or worse than than what is offered today. The plot wasunbelievable - and - had I not watched it on DVD, I would have left withmany questions unanswered. Without the Director's run through, it is a veryconfusing movie in parts - and don't personally feel that a movie shouldneed to be explained. If an explanation is required - then the makers havefallen down on their job.A lot of money, a lot of talent was largely wasted on what in the end is afairly indifferent, reasonably entertaining movie.

Markus_Ruby 2012-04-29 18:32:52

The biggest waste of time in history...

This movie really is awful. Just wait for it to come out on TV and youwill see what i mean. It's just another example of an overblown,effects and sex driven, Hollywood movie, with a script that probablytook 1 week to write.A tip for Hollywood: It's impossible to create suspense for a moviewhen the audience doesn't give a damn if the characters live or die. Ifyou gave us some likable characters, then maybe. Otherwise, no. And theplot? It doesn't have to be complicated. A simple neat script with wellthought out dialogue and perhaps a twist or two will be enough tochange this from being a complete "suck fest" to a "hey i reallyenjoyed that movie"

hobbes_ 2012-04-23 06:05:14

Every action movie of the 90's in one big cliché

I went to the movies expecting to kill some time with a decent actionflick.However this movie isn't decent in any way. This is one of the worstmoviesI have watched in a long time.First of all it's the plot. Is it a plot full of holes or a hole with someplot in it? Who knows? Will we ever know? One of the latest theories isthatit's nothing but a multi-million dollar commercial disguised as "the moviewith the most obvious product placement ever".But at least the movie has hackers. Not your local "jolt drinking 16 yearold pimple faced hacker" though.Instead we have hackers who all look like models, who have names like"AxelTorvalds" and who breaks in to the super secret government computer in 1minute while receiving fellatio at gunpoint.We also have John Travolta playing the same bad guy he always plays. Andlet's not forget the endless action scenes that includes cars that explodeas they flip over and big slow motion explosions seen in many many moviesbefore.Then there's the Hale Berry nude scene! I guess she felt a nude scenewasn'tmotivated in her other movies but this time the plot really needed it!Let'sjust leave it at that.Also remember not to watch this movie with someone who knows anythingaboutcomputers because he will be laughing all the way through the many"realistic" and "exciting" hacker scenes.

Special-K88 2012-04-22 22:29:20

watchable but strains belief after a while

Slick cyber-thriller features Jackman as one of the world's mostnotorious computer hackers. Having recently been released from prison,his only joy in life is to be with his daughter who's under the custodyof his bitter ex-wife and her sleazy new husband. He's then coerced bysuave and deadly CIA operative Travolta to hack into an old DEA dummyaccount so he can steal billions of dollars in government funds.Intriguing, well-cast actioner certainly holds your interest with itsclever setup and inventive effects sequences, but it gradually runs outof steam and abandons credibility as it reaches its unlikely climax.**½

Dr. Michael Hollywood 2012-04-18 23:02:08

Travolta is devilishly good

Your password has been accepted for entrance to see John Travolta'sreturn to the screen. 2001 seems to be the year of movies with anoverwhelming number of successful films; "Swordfish" is no exception tothis rule. When you combine one of the most charismatic actionsuperstars with two of fastest rising stars in Hollywood and addhigh-energy, high-octane, explosive action; the result everyone willreceive is a movie that will take you on a thrill ride from start tofinish."Swordfish" contains many positive moments. Brilliance is the firstword that came to mind when I saw Travolta and Berry in their new rolesas terrorists, Gabriel Shear and girlfriend Ginger Knowles, because itallowed me to experience variety in their repertoire. Anotheroutstanding highlight in "Swordfish" was the story that kept myinterest from start to finish. The writing was loaded with class,intelligence and snappy dialogue. When elements such as these are inplace, movies like "Swordfish" will always turn out to be winners.Rounding out the cast is Hugh Jackman as Stanley Jobson, Don Cheadle asa government agent named Roberts, Vinnie Jones as Shear's henchmen, SamShepard as a crooked senator and Shear's employer, Camryn Grimes asStanley's daughter, Holly.Travolta gave the audience something to smile about in "Swordfish" ashe returned to film in grand style. His role as the brutal terrorist ishis best performance since "A Civil Action." Unlike his previousvillainous roles "Battlefield Earth," "Face/Off" and "Broken Arrow,"Travolta exudes a brutal mean streak that takes no prisoners and makesno room for excuses. One of the most enjoyable parts about thischaracter is everything must be black or white. With each passingmoment on screen, I was smiling because Travolta performed his rolewith a confident, arrogant and calm attitude. Travolta is a joy towatch on screen and I relish the opportunity to see him in anothervillainous role. I can't wait for his next film to come out because Iknow it is going to be just as good as "Swordfish." Berry was a perfectselection a great fit in "Swordfish" because she brought life and charmto the film. Berry was one of the pieces to the puzzle, which made"Swordfish" a treat. Berry was so incredible in this film, she seemednatural in the role she played; furthermore, little effort was neededto convince me that Berry was exactly who she said she was in the film.The best thing about Berry in this film was the mystery surrounding hertrue identity and reason why she was in the situation with Travolta andJackman. I hope she continues shine with each role she takes in thefuture.Jackman continues to soar as an actor with his role as a computerhacker forced to work for a team of terrorists led by Shear to stealbillions of dollars from the government for the good of America. Onlytime eludes prevents Jackman with the coveted prize called Oscar. Theevidence for this statement lies with his impressive role in"Swordfish," which showed his maturity from previous roles in "SomeoneLike You." and "X-Men." With assets such as charm, charisma, character,screen presence and integrity; Jackman provided me with the opportunityto watch a true master in his field of expertise. Jackman has joined alist of actors that include Jim Caviezel and Russell Crowe who havemade enormous progress with each role they take. My wish is to seeJackman continuer on the road to super-stardom because he trulydeserves every moment of positive press coming his way.Another outstanding highlight in "Swordfish" was the story because thewriters were able to keep my interest from start to finish. Class,intelligence and snappy were the first thoughts that came to mind whendescribing the writing in "Swordfish." With he dialogue shared betweenJackman and Travolta made my day because it is the best exchange I haveseen in a long time.With action sequences frozen in mid-air while cameras pan around,sequences that have a bus levitated during a car chase and incredibleexplosions; "Swordfish" will knock viewers off their seat. Furthermore,when you add performances from Travolta, Jackman and Berry as well asthe incredible story this movie will dominate for a long time.

Chris Brown 2012-04-18 17:46:18

Computer hacker, 360 degree stop action sequence, crashing helicopter sequence; is this The Matrix sequel?

Swordfish, Warner Brothers 'latest foray in the teched-out action filmgenre, is directed by Dominic Sena. The Matrix parallels are apparent.Computer hacker (Hugh Jackman) meets beautiful, stunningly self-sufficientgirl (Halle Berry) who shows up to tell him that he must rendezvous withhermysterious boss (John Travolta), described by one character as a man who"lives in a world outside of our world." *Ah hem,* Neo, Trinity, Morpheus,'nuff said. Add a familiar 360 degree camera trick and a Helicoptersequenceto boot and the mimicry becomes caustic, corrosive, and hey, just badform.But Swordfish only steals from The Matrix on a marginal level; the film'sstoryline diverges into it's own cyber-espionage drama, filled withdouble-crossing and mistaken identities. Unfortunately, this course lacksthe sort of philosophical underpinnings that gave The Matrix its weight asan action film. Swordfish, instead centers thematically on patriotism andmisdirection, leading to an ending that plays out like the grand finale ofThe Usual Suspects, minus the punch and complexity of "Suspects' closingrevelation. All this makes one wonder, 'Why has writing an original scriptbecome such an impossibility?'But for what it's worth, the film still presents an ample dosage ofeye-candy. Halle Berry bares her breasts (in what is perhaps one of theleast motivated bare breasted scenes in cinematic history) and isotherwiseconsistently scantily clad. Perhaps even better (and what could possiblybe?) is the fever created by the first ten minutes of the film. JonTravoltaopens with an awesome speech about contemporary cinema that is impossiblycool (but that also unwisely inflates expectations), leading to a bankheistthat goes wrong. The end of this opening scene features an eight hundredthousand dollar still-array sequence. Whereas those depicted in the Matrixwere around characters frozen temporarily in action, this one is around anexplosion that destroys a city block. Despite the technique's familiarresonances, the sequence is breathtaking, and a true advancement in thetechnical arts.Given dialogue that is often riddled with clichéd lines, the actors farewell. Without the Wolverine blades and Mutton chops, Jackman has theopportunity to play a role colored by his own aesthetic, and he isgenuinelyappealing, with the exception of an irrelevant 'hacking' scene, featuringJackman virtually dancing around a computer console (to his own, laterembarrassment, no doubt). Travolta's role is largely weakened by thefaultsof the script, but the actor does what he can, tinting his villainouscharacter with his patented, ironically soothing vocal intonations.Halle Berry is gorgeous and undaunted by her often tiresome lines, pullingthem off with a refreshing confidence. Don Cheadle, who appears in thefilmas a cyber-crimes agent, is drastically underutilized. His pervasive witisheld back by the confining parameters of the script, but the character heportrays, though underdeveloped, still smacks of a certain hard-drivenpersonality.While visually, Swordfish advances still-array effects' boundaries in itsfirst ten minutes, the remainder of the movie falls under the narrativecastset by pioneering films of the recent past. But with featured actorsworkingagainst a script comprised of both loudly and inconspicuously rehashedideas, the film does gain merit. Not enough, unfortunately, to make it astory that is as original or compelling as those from which itappropriatedits ideas. The Moral: It ain't always wise to reload prematurely.