A flashy, high-octane blockbuster movie with a big budget, big cast, and lots of adrenaline-pumping action, including a spectacular dramatic car chase which is very exciting to watch. One thing confuses me: why all the negative reviews? It seems that few if any people actually admit to liking this film, most of them slagging it off for being lame brained, over-the-top entertainment. That may be so, but I'm a sucker for action movies and this one hit the mark as far as I'm concerned. It may not be the best film ever made, it may not even be a very good one, but it packs in the excitement where it counts.
Coming from the Jerry Bruckheimer stable, the film is packed full of the quick editing and noisy music we've come to expect from the producer of movies like CON AIR and Armageddon. Although the movie is quite slow to begin with, and it seems to take an age for the car-stealing to actually begin, once it does you won't be disappointed. Bruckheimer has assembled an all-star cast for his movie and although many of the actors and actresses are wasted, it's nice to have their presence felt nonetheless. A case in point is Robert Duvall: he has about fifteen minutes max screen time as the wise old man. A blond-haired Nicolas Cage takes the lead and puts in a rather subdued and forgettable performance, whilst in comparison Christopher Eccleston goes way over the top as the manic bad guy. Angelina Jolie lends the film some glamour but, in a film about expensive, beautiful sports cars, her presence is rather unnecessary. Giovanni Ribisi plays another brain dead moron to a realistic effect, while faces like those of Will Patton and Vinnie Jones fill out minor roles, the latter to great effect as a mute hard man.
Okay, okay, I can see this film's flaws. The cheesy sentimentalising creeps in a bit too often for my liking, and all of the action is concentrated near the end instead of being spread out. However, I still stand by my words that the finale is a fantastic piece of work and that this is a great, easy viewing popcorn experience which doesn't disappoint. Just watch it expecting a movie with cool action AND wit, like THE MATRIX.
