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39 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"Swordfish" chums up action and confusion in great heaps, June 11, 2001
"Swordfish" opens with John Travolta facing toward the camera, looking contemplative and addressing his off-screen audience. The problem with Hollywood, his character Gabriel dryly suggests, is that it doesn't push the envelope enough. With all that cinematic potential, say like with "Dog Day Afternoon, why have a pointless,(mostly) harmless bank robbery when you could examine how far the cops would go in being uncooperative if Pacino started killing hostages? The problem, Gabriel is told, is that audiences like happy endings and that such tales are morality plays - the bad guy has to lose. It's an amusing moment, and it sets up "Swordfish" as a counterpoint to that line of reasoning. The movie plays as a postmodern (and by post-modern I mean post-Tarantino) action film, cutting the audience just enough slack for them to decide whether or not they want to root for the bad guy, who is most certainly Gabriel. The film's message, beyond the drive of the plot, is that the audiences root for the bad guy. Whether or not they want/would allow him to win is tested on-screen by Hugh Jackman, playing the "everyman" with certain talents that pull him into Gabriel's high-stakes world. Unfortunately, "Swordfish" suffers from its own cleverness, much in the same way people disliked Mission: Impossible or LA Confidential. There are twists and turns galore, and every other character is not who they appear to be. "Swordfish", though, doesn't quite pull it off. At one point, Gabriel talks about the greatness of Harry Houdini and the art of misdirection, which serves as a blueprint for this movie. The audience sees what Hugh Jackman's Stanley sees - the misdirection, and there's so much of it that it becomes an exercise in dizziness trying to juggle all the details. In this respect, the magician's trick works. However, as a film, it leaves the viewer more confused than amused, more depressed than impressed, and not caring enough about what happens to the characters since they don't really know who the characters REALLY are at any given moment. Still, through it all is Gabriel, who may or may not be any number of things. It doesn't affect how he acts, though, and much of the fun in "Swordfish" is watching Travolta revisit familiar and confident territory as the wisecracking heavy. In fact, the strength of "Swordfish" is truly found in the performances. Even as the plot unfolds with its slight of hand, there's enough eye candy and wry humor there to make for an enjoyable film. Don Cheadle and Hugh Jackman are great, playing it all with a straight face (necessary to make an action film work), and Vinnie Jones stops by to look menacing though he is not given nearly enough to do. "Swordfish" is a tough catch to reel in. It is an ambitious action film that doesn't quite become what it wants to be and, in failing, leaves much of the audience in its thrashing wake. For recommendations sake, if you disliked "The Usual Suspects" or "Mission: Impossible" because of their labyrinthine, snaking plots, you will probably not enjoy "Swordfish". If you liked "Ronin" or "Broken Arrow" because of their pacing and performances, you will probably get a kick out of "Swordfish". The movie never quite gives the audience enough to judge whether Gabriel or his dissenters are right, but it sure has a lot of fun trying to deliver the goods. A true summer film, and a worthy popcorn film for those in need of one.
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