Dreary actioner

Rating: Null/10 (25 October 2004)

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs
Creasy (Denzel Washington) is a former marine and recovering alcoholic who wearily agrees to take on an assignment arranged for him by his close pal Rayburn (Christopher Walken) to act as a bodyguard for a young girl named Pita (Dakota Fanning) in Mexico City,where there is a kidnapping every 60 minutes and only 30% of the victims survive.Initially,he maintains a dismissive,strictly professional attitude around her but gradually lets her into his heart until he's rebuilding his life around her.So,when an unspeakable act is committed against her and her family,he sets out on a one man search-and-destroy mission against the perpetrators,leaving a bloody trail in his wake.
There were a number of positive factors that attracted me to this film.One,Denzel Washington in the lead role.Two,I'd already seen and enjoyed the 1987,low-budget original starring Scott Glenn and was eager to see what a big budget Hollywood makeover would do for it.The fact that it was directed by Hollywood action-meister Tony Scott made it look good too.But,that's the thing.It's an action movie and it's a Tony Scott action movie.So where's the action?For the most part,this just drearily drones along,running well over it's time limit and resulting in an overlong plomb.Last year,the movie Bad Boys 2 ran for a similar time frame.I hope this isn't the start of a new trend from Hollywood of action movies with minimalist plots that run for roughly two and a half hours,'cos if it is,it's not very encouraging.But that is exactly what we have here:a minimalist plot.A very tired and creaky one of a strong-and-silent hero type who ends up forming a bond with a little kid.And when stretched to said time frame,it becomes one hell of an endurance tester.
Somehow,you can hold your attention through to the end.But it can't be ignored that this is uninvolving,unengaging stuff.It's a shame.Spell-binding actor though Denzel is,he was in another action film that wasn't received very well some years ago by the name of Virtuosity.In a way,you can't help wondering why he didn't learn his lesson.**