could have been awesome

Rating: 6/10 (14 December 2002)

This had many things going for it, great cast, great camera work and great stuntwork. There were a lot of scenes that made me say, "Ooh, that was cool!" Sadly, there were just as many there made me say, well, I can't say that here. The first impression I got as the movie played out was that this was a big screen adaptation of the popular video game "Driver". But as the story played out, it became painfully obvious that it was just another effort to follow the Hollywood pattern. Good things: The actors fit pretty well, and many stunts have a Jackie Chan quality. Jason Stathom makes a great leading man. There are tons of current, hip camera shots and editing tricks to make this look cool. Bad things: The bad guy looks like a character from the Kids in the Hall (I thought immediately of the bad guy from Brain Candy when I saw him). The story seems to have been pieced together from a 14 year old who's already seen too many Bond films and played way too many video games. Also, during the fights, there are tons of "lame fighters". (These are the many guys trying to beat up the good guy, but while the good guy is whooping up on someone, the lame fighter stands completely still, even though he isn't hurt and has a clear shot at the good guy.) Blah, 6 of 10.