Hidden Agenda

Hidden Agenda succeeds where lots of other movies fail, because it has a pretty good plot. The action sequences are staged well, and Dolph is not bad at all in his role. He stars as Jason Price, who is an ex-special agent who comes out of retirement to protect his friend who is also a witness, and soon gets caught up in a conspiracy where nothing is as it seems. The direction in this movie is competent and well handled. I hope to see more of Marc S. Greinier in the future. For once an intelligent action thriller that doesn't waste our time. Overall, Hidden Agenda is a worthwhile flick. I give it a 4/5

The movie has a very mysterious twist to it. You don't know who is good and who is bad, along with surprising scenes that you won't believe are possible to occur. The movie is exciting and incredible. The movie includes two hot chicks, and other scenes that'll make you say "wow, how did that happen?" I recommend the movie to mystery and action fans.

It's almost become a given that as action stars age, their movies become exponentially worse, and dumber. Dolph has not been immune to this trend as evidenced by some of his most recent outings.

Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised by his latest (and last? if rumors are to be believed) film. HIDDEN AGENDA is by far Dolph's most intelligent, and probably best, movie to date. It is what MISSION IMPOSSIBLE I&II and ERASER aspired to, but failed to deliver.

The script is well-plotted and the writing crisp (I noticed it's the same writer, Les Welden, who wrote Van Damme's best recent-memory film, REPLICANT) with some nice one-liners delivered with tongue and cheek savoir-faire by Dolph. But it is the directing which stands out. Marc Grenier, whose other films I have not yet seen, delivered a terrific looking film on what was clearly a limited budget. He also got a nice performance out of Dolph who is usually constrained to one-sentence grunts and kicks. The action and suspense were plentiful as were the twists and turns.

Overall, a must-see for any Dolph fan, or any movie goer who likes intelligent, suspenseful films. It's a shame films like this one get relegated to direct-to-video status when so many other horrible movies find the big screen just because stars are in them. My $8 would've certainly been better spent on this than half the films I've seen this year.

****1/2 out of 5 stars.

The biggest effect this film had on me was the element of surprise at watching a Dolph Lundgren film where he doesn't possess a weapon bigger than his arm! Instead, what we see here is a more subtle Dolph, drinking champagne and smoking fine cigars.

After Johnny Mnemonic, almost every single Lundgren film has centred around him and in this effort, he proves a worthy centre piece. I've always liked Dolph, but understand his critics as he has been massively typecast. I advise his doubters to see Hidden Agenda as he gives an understated (by his standards) performance and is charismatic and charming enough to pose as a smooth operating entrepreneur. As expected, in the action scenes, Dolph is brilliant and will keep his hardcore fans happy. Support is adequate. Maxim Roy as the love interest is sexy and puts in a good performance. The supporting cast is unspectacular and simply take a backward stance to allow Lundgren to perform.

The plot is also a surprise as it is intelligent and builds up an atmosphere. When I say intelligent, I'm not talking Oldboy, Eternal Sunshine or The Abyss, but that it is not just a case of blowing stuff up. The plot has fairly predictable twists and turns but they are entertaining enough. The methodology of the identification programs is very interesting and the conspiracy theories do well to keep the audience engaged to the end.

A likable film with a surprising Lundgren in the thick of it, Hidden Agenda is a slightly above average film that is good at killing an hour and a half!

I admit up front I'm not a fan of this genre. I have never seen a Jean Claude van Damme film, only saw a couple of the Rocky movies, I've seen one Schwarzenegger and one Stephen Segal. Though I knew who Dolph Lundgren was, I'd never seen him or one of his movies.

Tuning into what I thought was a different film called "Hidden Agenda," I got a look at all 6'5 of Dolph Lundgren, the high cheekbones etc., and thought I'd give this "Hidden Agenda" a try.

This film is apparently different from other Lundgren films according to other reviews, but I can't judge it on that basis.

In the story, Lundgren plays Jason Price, a former government agent. His job is to help people disappear. However, it appears that a hit man called The Cleaner has somehow infiltrated Price's group and is knocking off people the FBI wanted to protect. It's up to Price to find out who it is.

This is one of those films where you can't tell the bad people from the good, so everyone is suspect. There were lots of things blowing up, car chases, and fights, but I found it entertaining and involving.

I wasn't familiar with the other actors in the film except for Francis X. McCarthy, but they were all good. The only strange thing was the film had a "dubbed" sound to it, even though it wasn't dubbed. Perhaps they had to re-record the sound in a studio - don't know.

Anyway, not bad for my first Lundgren foray. He's quite good at what he does.