Story about terrorists in NYC is timelier than ever since 9/11...

Rating: 6/10 (22 May 2007)

BRUCE WILLIS and SAMUEL L. JACKSON seem like they're doing a buddy flick rigged to simulate what Mel Gibson did with his LETHAL WEAPON films. There's lots of humor, excitement, explosions, daring escapes and leaps from high places as they tear around New York City trying to prevent terrorist (JEREMY LYONS) from blowing up a public school.
As Leonard Maltin says: "It's like watching 12 chapters of a hi-tech Saturday matinÃ©e serial all at once," with non-stop action piled onto a thin plot that has the bomber using his threats as a diversionary device so that he and his army of goons can use dumpsters to load gold from the Federal Reserve Bank.
Both Willis and Jackson have to undergo a number of physical hardships and beatings to attempt any number of athletic stunts they're forced to perform in the course of tracking down the riddles they're given by Irons. Irons, it seems, is intent on using ex-cop Willis as the target of his demands because he threw Lyons' brother off a roof a few years previously. That's about the depth of character involvement we get.
But since the film is all about action, any fan of this genre is bound to get their money's worth. All the stunts are elaborately staged, the color photography (particularly of New York City's congested streets and bridges) is excellent and Michael Kamen's music wrings the most out of every explosive situation.
Summing up: For thrill seekers only, but don't expect credibility when the brutal punishment Willis and Jackson take makes it improbable that they survived their mission intact. There's a comic book feel to the whole movie because all the action is over-the-top.