Firestorm

Hokey, instantly forgettable action movie which seems to be trying to cash in on moviegoers fascination with disaster flicks. A sly, merciless convict escapes a Wyoming prison with assorted others and sets out to recover a stash of money with a blazing forest fire as his cover. What begins as the perfect plan quickly goes awry when he's pursued by a resilient, resourceful smokejumper (Long) who's determined to thwart him. Another one of those movies that takes a force of nature and drives it into the ground with thin characters, silly dialogue, and routine writing. Throwaway dumpster fire has not a single fresh or innovative idea in the entire picture, nor a single plot twist that you won't be one step ahead of. *

When I first heard of Firestorm, I thought it was going to be a blast, but it just didn't live up to my expectations. I had to admit, the dialogue was EXTREMELY lousy. Howie Long has to start reading his lines more. He seemed like a damn zombie when it came to his talking parts! But enough about the bad parts. I think this film had a lot of great action sequences, because it all seemed pretty realistic. If he would just work at it, Long would make an excellent action hero. Though he wouldn't make it to the level of Schwarzeneggar and Stallone, he would probably equal to the level with Dolph Lundgren, Wings Hauser, Gary Busey, and Bruce Campbell. Firestorm really reminded me of a lot like Cliffhanger, because they similar plot tones. Let's face it, this film is no Ben-Hur, but if you like action films that don't require a high IQ, Firestorm is your right choice.

The preview for this film is actually more exciting to watch. It's really hokey; in the mold of Die Hard, I guess you could say. But aren't they all? The dialogue is kinda interesting, yet, very expectable. The best part - the cool action sequences. Basically just a low-budget movie with a big-budget, right?

This movie was fun! Plain, simple, stupid fun! If you take it any other way of course it's going to become an awful movie in every aspect.

I think everyone has said their piece about this film but I'd have to say the most notable scene in the entire movie, the one scene that had me laughing my head off, was when the bad guys pretended to be Canadian Fire-fighters. I live in Canada and I'll guarantee we don't talk like that! It was definitely a funny scene, worth renting just for that scene alone! HAHAHA....

It's pretty obvious that the director has numerous Oscar nominations for cinematography, because the visuals look pretty spectacular. This in of itself makes the movie entertaining to watch, which is OK for a film that's really only intended to be a basic action flick. Forsythe, Amis and Glen do a good job helping Howie Long through the scenes. Even though he can't really act, Howie's likability and physical prowess make him fun to watch. I could easily delve into the problems of this film (which are numerous), but if you go in with very low expectations, you may come out pleasantly surprised. Firestorm is a fun little action flick with great visuals you can watch on a rainy day. It's certainly no worse than some of the other films of the same genre.