Not Your Typical Summer Blockbuster Thug!

Rating: 8/10 (17 June 2005)

With powerful direction, a mixture of elegant performances and a dash of just enough special effects, this truly is a beginning worth remembering. While some moments lead this viewer to think corn was about to be popped right off the ear, the action quickly deviates into a darker alley that allows one to savor the moment of a deep breath. No brightly light faces, no one-liners to dilute the plot, and a ensemble cast human enough to understand without gulping down soda in vile disgust. Hopefully if there are future cards to be laid and the jester shows his hand, this darker franchise will continue to satisfy without sacrificing itself to mockery .