Product: Rollerball (2002)
Rating: 4.0
"The Thomas Crowne Affair" it may not be...
... but, gentle reader, I believe this movie is not the horror that the previous few reviewers thought it would be.To begin, John McTiernan doesn't faithfully redo classics. Instead, he changes them into a modern action film with modern concepts and modern values, and almost always with better than average, and often exceptional, characters. Think of the aforementioned "Thomas Crowne Affair": its plot had very little to do with the Norman Jewison version (oh, gee, who directed the 1975 version of "Rollerball"? I forget...). However, very similar sensibilities are there in the 1999 version.Hmm...FADE IN: Studio exec is trying to figure out what to do about his next production. Suddenly a lightbulb goes on over his head:STUDIO EXEC(to SECRETARY, O.S.)Call John McTiernan! Have him redo anotherNormal Jewison film. What else has that geezerdone?! (rifling through old DGA directory) (Beat)Rollerball!! Perfect!! Violence, fast-paced, slinkygirls, lots of stunts, loud music! Perfect!Maybe... Anyway, we now return to our original review.So when McT, as he refers to himself on other commentaries (one of my major disappointments about this so-called special edition is the lack of a McTiernan wry, dry, and ever so enjoyable commentary), brings in the sensibilities of the original version, but addresses the subject in a more 2000-friendly way (i.e., ratings, and the immediacy of the decisions), he is shouted down because he didn't do what someone with a pre-conceived notion about what the remake "should" be expected.Pardon the expression, but to borrow from good ol' Colonel Potter (and the writers of M*A*S*H), this is a bunch of "horse feathers." The film has an excellent pace, an engaging, lively soundtrack, and fun action. OK, so Chris Klein and Rebecca Romijn aren't Tracy and Hepburn, but this is the first role I've seen Chris Klein in where he has an edge. He actually looks not like the puppy he normally looks, but someone who, when driven to it, can kill. And I credit McTiernan with bringing that out of him.Overall, yes, this is not an Oscar-winning weaper for which Merryl could win an Oscar because she learned another accent, but as far as summer entertainment, I'd say it's superior to most.