would be OK if it were not a remake - just my personal opinion

Rating: 3/10 (14 February 2009)

When I started watching the movie I had no idea it was based on IA so it seemed like an okay flick. Not great by any stretch of the imagination but a passable B-movie with A-list actors. Mark Whalberg's character was annoying and just seemed too unstable and unfit for his position. Still marginally entertaining as I was not expecting a serious cinema and paying more attention to the visuals and Jack Nicholson's familiar antics. Once it became clear that this was a remake the whole impression just totally crumbles as you just notice only deficiencies and see no added value. To be fair it's not a one star movie characters are two-dimensional but there's some entertainment and shock value in it. Finally movies are goods to be sold let's be honest how many people among the average US movie going public have heard or watched IA? Like one performer said once "people will gobble it up anyway" so that's another McMovie