Customer Reviews

Moving Target

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jack Wagner is excellent as he plays against type as the evil hitman in this NBC telefilm from 1988. Worth seeking out for Wagner's performance alone.

I don't know exactly when Jason Bateman started his career, but after watching Arrested Development the last several years (reruns of course) I wanted to tune into Moving Target to find out what he looked like as a teenager. WOW, haha. He looks pretty much the same as he does now, except he's much smaller, and I THINK I remember Jason Bateman being somewhat of a chick magnet for all the teenage girls out there back in the late 80's.

Anyway, while I didn't expect Arrested Development-type quality while watching Moving Target (or a comedy for that matter) I can't say this movie does a whole lot of things differently from all the other similar "run from bad guys- shoot bad guys" movies that are out there.

The only difference in this film compared to the many similar ones from the same time period is that Bateman plays a teenage boy in this movie as the main character, and he has to run from the bad guy that supposedly has connections to the mob and forces Bateman's parents to change their names and where they live. Why didn't the parents tell Bateman about any of this and instead waited for him to return home from summer camp to find out his parents no longer lived there, so Bateman's character has to be worried sick and constantly confused? I have no idea. Maybe a case of bad parenting. Actually I think it's because Bateman chose to skip summer camp and he ran away early to return home. Maybe the parents WERE planning to tell him when he arrived home.

Anyway, it's somewhat cheesy as far as the acting is concerned, but because it's an older film there's something somewhat appealing about the occasional sloppy writing and acting skills. I liked it. Bateman went on to much much MUCH better things (such as Arrested Development) but this movie ain't bad for what it is.

I found this to be an intrieging suspense thriller with a minimum of violence and a happy ending. This is a rare combination in recent releases. I found it well excepted and enjoyed by teen age audiences.

2 stars of 5 for this slow dull "classical" 1980's style movie. This movie has a young Jason Bateman in the lead. Very very very slow and dull with a few moments of bad 1980's style music. To our relief the background music (which is very annoying) is kept to a minimum. Though it attempts to be an action/suspense movie, it achieves neither. I'd suggest skipping this movie.

I loved this movie as a kid and I am so happy the powers that be have decided to release it finally! If you want to see a great 80's movie, this is it!