A Refreshingly Smart Summer Movie

Rating: 9/10 (23 April 2002)

After seeing Mission: Impossible back in 1996, I couldn't stop singing the film's praises. Here, finally was a film with some great set pieces and an incredibly complex plot to carry them. Sure the film was lacking in character. I didn't care, I was too busy trying to piece together the labrynthine series of double crosses and backstabs. Apparently, a great many people thought the movie made no sense. I find that to be a rather disturbing trend resonating from audiences who no longer wish to have their minds entertained as well as just their eyes. This movie's plot is so well constructed that it likely takes more than one viewing to piece together completely. The general impatience shown towards this film's narrative is a bad sign for the future of intelligent thrillers. It's too bad too. Here was a summer film that actually trusted its audience's intelligence, only to learn that its trust was misplaced.
9/10