When Americans leave America, bad things happen...

Rating: 1/10 (21 May 2009)

To save you the time in either watching this film or reading my critique of it, here is a brief summary: This film is the worst film I have ever seen. This film is atrocious. This film is so unbelievably awful that all the writers, directors, producers and cast that worked on it should be sent to the Hague and tried for crimes against humanity.
In the first chapter of this film, three facts are established:
1. There exists a man. He's pretty tough. 2. He loves his daughter very much. 3. Aforementioned daughter is going to Paris.
In order to establish these three facts, which any competent writer or director could do in about ten minutes, the film takes over half an hour, quite possibly the most laborious half an hour in cinematic history.
As soon as the daughter reaches Paris, she is of course kidnapped. Literally AS SOON. So there is a sudden escalation in pace that doesn't leave the watcher thinking "WOW, I didn't see that coming" or "Wo, what a skillful escalation in pace" but simply "OH Jesus Christ SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD THANK GOD THAT SOMETHING FINALLY HAPPENED!" This sudden plot "twist" of course makes the liberal mother and fat, short stereotypically wealthy stepfather look villainous and the absurdly-paranoid-to-the-degree-that-he-should-seek-professional-help father, who believes his daughter is safer in Los Angeles than Paris, becomes the all-knowing hero.
And of course the CIA can detect from a tiny and poor-quality voice sample the hometown of any speaker. So we learn that the daughter has been kidnapped by an Albanian gang who intend to sell her into sex slavery. This is of course the point where the film ceases to be just bad and becomes outright immoral: people trafficking with the intent of prostitution is a real and tangible problem in Europe and indeed all over the world (if you want to see an actually worthy film that deals with the issue I suggest "Eastern Promises", "Dirty Pretty Things" or "Spare Parts"). Making it the subject of a Hollywood action film in which the American hero overcomes all the odds to rescue his daughter is insulting to those women who have actually been in this situation. Particularly appalling is the scant disregard that our "hero" shows for the wellbeing of any of the other women. It left me questioning "is it supposed to be ironic? morally ambiguous? No, it's just a film that chose a very sensitive and inappropriate subject for a formula-produced action movie.
As the film continues we are given more and more ridiculous scenes that insult our intelligence. One particularly stupid oversight comes when the hero walks into a brothel posing as a Parisian police officer and the villains show absolutely no suspicion of his being impostor, despite the fact that he talks exclusively in English.
And the most ridiculously appalling scene comes at the very end. The girl is safe as she returns from Paris to Los Angeles. Finally, back in America, where everyone's safe! In spite of murdering and torturing so many people and shooting the wife of a leading Parisian police officer, our hero steps off the plane with absolutely no problems. Despite her best friend's death and a terrible ordeal, the girl is happy and shows no signs of trauma whatsoever. And in spite of the thousands of women who suffer in sex slavery every day of their lives, a plight which this film does absolutely nothing to enlighten the world on, we are made to believe this is a happy ending.
This film is an insult to my continent and my intelligence, and a mockery of so many people who suffer in silence.
But I'm European, so of course, I'm an evil people-trafficker n'all...