Füge eine Handlung in deiner Sprache hinzuEx-C.I.A. Agent James Dial (Wesley Snipes) is asked to take out terrorist Ali Mahmud Jahar (Nikolai Sotirov), only to realize he's been set up by his former employer, Jeremy Collins (Ralph B... Alles lesenEx-C.I.A. Agent James Dial (Wesley Snipes) is asked to take out terrorist Ali Mahmud Jahar (Nikolai Sotirov), only to realize he's been set up by his former employer, Jeremy Collins (Ralph Brown).Ex-C.I.A. Agent James Dial (Wesley Snipes) is asked to take out terrorist Ali Mahmud Jahar (Nikolai Sotirov), only to realize he's been set up by his former employer, Jeremy Collins (Ralph Brown).
- Ali Mahmud Jahar's daughter
- (Archivfilmmaterial)
- Ali Mahmud Jahar
- (as Nikolay Sotirov)
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Of course, in all this gem of a script idea there is also bad screen play, occasional bad acting and things that make no sense. It's like a good machine without oil, everything is well made but not really working. The action scenes are shaky and amateurish for a Snipes movie, but then again, the point was not the action or the technical prowess of the hit men, but the fact that they are human beings.
At first I thought it was going to be another Nikita/Leon ripoff, but the girl story arch was sensible and reasonably original. The ending was a little bit forced, too.
Bottom line: in the abysmal hell of bad written hit-man action movies, this obscure film is a real gem in the mud and a reminder that the budget is not really important, nor the genre of the film, but the very real effort of actually trying to make a movie, not just money.
The plot is in part similar to Mark Wahlberg's recent flick, The Shooter, and also Leon. It's the Leon part of the story that works best in this film, while the usual hokey espionage and agency double crossing is the main ingredient on the Shooter side of this film. Snipes is an ex-sniper called in to do a job and ends up being left to take the fall for his employers, who also want to dispose of Snipes now. Following his assignment and initial run in with the law, Wesley holes up in a safe house, where he meets Emily, a tenacious and troubled young girl, who is neighbours with the safe houses owner. She helps James Dial (Snipes) recuperate from a gunshot, while also helping him avoid capture. The relationship between Dial and Emily could have wrecked the movie with inconceivability, however it works.
This is where the film's main strength lies, the cast. Wesley for a start puts in the effort. He's not dialling this one in, like previous roles. He gives the role extra dimension. The cast, for a DTV film, is also blessed with recognisable names. Lena Headey is good, and hot, and Charles Dance and Ralph Brown also appear to add class. The real star here though is young actress Eliza Bennett, who plays Emily. It's so rare that young actors can really immerse themselves in a role, and be totally natural on screen. We've seen it countless times in even the biggest flicks, that young actors given important roles just cannot act. I give you Jake Lloyd as an example, or the Harry Potter kids (from the first two flicks at least, while even now they only border on competent). But Bennett is a real star in the making, oozing potential and an amazing amount of gravitas for someone so young. She is her character, and we never have to make account for her being a young actor playing a role out of her range. She has a good role that she not only does extremely well, but I imagine, created much of herself. We're talking on the same playing field as Haley Joel Osment, Dakota Fanning, Freddie Highmore. She'll be huge I predict. Indeed I think Wesley would have appreciated having someone with real, genuine talent to work off. It's a role that requires maturity and immersion, and because Bennett becomes her character so effectively, she and Snipes can work off each other so well. To think a DTV could have pulled a gem out the hat like this is quite something. By past occurrence, Snipes should have been acting opposite a lump of infantile, irksome, wood.
One failing of the film lies at the feet of director Josef Rusnak. His aping of Tony Scott is problematic. The constant hand-cranking of the camera and blitzkrieg editing, just gets painful, and the action is a mixture of competent, neat scenes, and real misfires, such as a strobe lighting shootout. As for hand to hand fisticuffs, Snipes has one brief fight, which is really well done. A bit more of that would have been better than the somewhat underfinanced gunfights. Still there's a few good foot and car chases here, while the UK locales make a change from the DTV norm of Eastern Europe (Though there's still some fairly blatant Bulgaria moments here). The score isn't too bad either. It's neither memorable, exciting, nor is it irritating or grating. Overall a decent DTV effort. Worth a watch if only to marvel at a shockingly decent cast for such a film. Look out for Bennett in the future too. **1/2
To the plebeian crowd, if Wesley Snipes is on the poster, that means some semi-mindless non-stop action, with a streak of silly humour once in a while, is coming their way. But Wesley never signed an agreement about that, did he now? This is not an action film, though you see some action in it.
First of all, it is a very low budget film, so don't go all tough and smart criticizing it. Those B-movies, which come to TV only late at night because other slots are for those blockbusters, can certainly not be measured against The Art of War or Blade. The Contractor is a simple, low budget film that shows a little girl's bond with an assassin, whose mission has gone wrong and who has fallen the prey of his own employers. While the action sequences and other things are inadvertently done, very special care has been taken of those moments that reflect the warmth of feelings. Lena Heady was not a necessary recruit for this film, her role any pretty face could play. But I like her, so I am glad she did it.
Some low budget, non-famous films sometimes leave lasting impressions. Maybe they fail overall in box office and audience poll, but sometimes there can be very heartfelt elements in such films. I watched it late at night and liked it for what it is. I was not disappointed for what it was not. Because if I wanted someone other film, I would watch some other film.
But of course, idiots have minds (and comments on IMDb) of their own.
Enter agent Collins, his supervising officer. Enter a new assignment - kill a terrorist that is in UK custody. Of course the United Kingdom being an allied state is a great place for covert ops and head-shots outside of courtrooms.
The assassination is a big success apart from the fact, that the escape plan blew. So Dial's partner and local liaison gets killed in action trying to escape the police, whilst Dial becomes hot property with the London coppers trying to get to him and CIA trying to dispose of him.
Fortunately for Dial the safe-house is routinely visited by a teenager Emily Day (Eliza Bennett), who loves hanging out with cold-blooded killers with arrest warrants and help them escape from the evil UK law enforcement...
With a script like that need I say more? On the plus side Wesley Snipes is Wesley Snipes (be that a pro or a con) and the movie is quite engaging. On the minus editing is very disjointing and has a hurl effect on the stomach.
Let me just say that I usually go into films with expectations. I learn about most movies through this or some other website, so I've usually read about a movie before seeing it, and I pick the ones I want to see. That said, I go into the ones I've picked really wanting to like them, so when they're not good, I'm disappointed, even to the point of being annoyed. Maybe i should change my approach, but this film just didn't meet my expectations.
The plot is wholly generic. A legendary, but retired, government assassin is called in for one last mission, which is to take out a ruthless dictator and terrorist. Once he completes the job, he attempts to leave the country, but is framed for another murder before he can. On the run, he must rely on his skills to survive. Sounds like "Bourne meets any Steven Seagal movie". It's very unoriginal, and it is just a rehashing of every other action movie you've ever seen.
The characters are all bland. I like Wesley Snipes, a lot actually, and I'd even go as far as to call myself a fan. He was the only reason I gave this film a second glance, and the only reason I pressed play. He was alright, even though he didn't have tons of dialogue. He's not as charismatic as he was in the roles of his prime, but he's nowhere near Seagal territory when it comes to wooden acting. He is onscreen a lot, but there's also a lot of time where he's not onscreen. When he is though, he's sitting and/or staring, and occasionally speaking. The other characters are all stock characters recycled from other films. Bleh.
Director Josef Rusnak, obviously an amateur, didn't do horribly. Most of the movie was at least watchable, but he went with shaky, frenetic camera work reminiscent of Tony Scott. Scott's newer, frenetic style, is most notable in Mann unter Feuer (2004), but at least there the style fit the mood. Here, Rusnak's obvious imitation is unnecessary, and just looks clumsy.
Now, I can forgive a generic plot and mediocre characters in this kind of film. It is a brainless B action movie after all, right? I've come for action, and a long as I get at least a fair amount of decent action scenes then I'll be good. Well this so-called "action movie" can't even deliver that. The trailer, which seemed to promise a good amount of action, gravely misled me. There are barely any action scenes, basically like, three or four small ones, in the movie, all of which are incredibly brief (the last one was ok), and poorly edited. Worst of all, Wesley Snipes has one fight scene. ONE FIGHT SCENE. We've come to see Wesley fight and don't get that at all. It seems like Snipes is starting to go the Seagal route of doing fewer and fewer action scenes in his movies, which is sad. Another scene with potential is stupidly obscured by strobe lighting, for no reason. Just why. Several more action scenes, and this would've been better.
The movie asked me to care about its story and characters, and attempted to privilege the story over the action. It's a risky move, one I can respect, but the problem is that it wasn't a great story and the characters weren't great. When there wasn't any action, I was left with the story, which was unsatisfying. The script could've used more action to keep the slow story moving, and at least make it more interesting. Maybe I should re-evaluate it, but my time is too valuable too me.
I wanted so badly to like the movie, but I have to be honest with myself. If you're a Snipes fan, then I guess you could watch it just to say you did. Otherwise, avoid it. It really is a waste of time.
Wusstest du schon
- WissenswertesShares a similar plot with another Wesley Snipes movie, The Detonator (2006). In both movies, Snipes played an ex-C.I.A. operative whose career took a turn south with one botched mission. Several years later, he gets recruited by an old friend to do "one last job", only to be betrayed by this friend. With the authorities and his betrayer pursuing him, (and in spite of being a black man travelling alone in a European country) Snipes' characters manage to keep low profiles long enough to clear their names.
- PatzerIn the closing scene, where James Dial is seen leaving London, the train he is shown boarding is clearly not British and the Bulgarian Railways logo is clearly visible as it is seen departing.
- Zitate
[first lines]
Jeremy Collins: Ali Mahmud Jahar. Remember him?
James Dial: [flashbacks]
Jeremy Collins: Of course you do.
Top-Auswahl
Details
- Erscheinungsdatum
- Herkunftsländer
- Sprache
- Auch bekannt als
- The Shooter
- Drehorte
- Produktionsfirmen
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Box Office
- Budget
- 18.000.000 $ (geschätzt)
- Laufzeit
- 1 Std. 45 Min.(105 min)
- Sound-Mix
- Seitenverhältnis
- 1.85 : 1