Agent Hamilton 2 - In persönlicher Mission

Waste of time. Viewed in isolation as a film, it's disjointed, with poorly developed characters, lacking in story, mediocre acting, and a poorly written script where it's difficult to truly sympathize with even the main characters. The original Hamilton book is refined, exciting, and offers good insight into characters and political dynamics. This film doesn't capture the essence of Hamilton as strategic, level-headed, and connected. Instead, he recklessly dives into the first shootout and only survives by sheer luck. There are bizarre changes to the characters... Why has Pierre become a jerk? Why are the Americans portrayed as unreliable trying to stop the mission?? How does a screenwriter manage to completely ruin a good book premise so effectively? The character introductions and backgrounds are extremely basic and random. Clearly, money was spent on production... but apparently, they hired the cheapest director and worst scriptwriter. The semi-romantic ending... it's just so clumsy. The best recommendation is to avoid watching the film altogether... it's a major disappointment. Read the book... and preferably the books... for much better entertainment. There are soooo many other movies worth the time. The time on this one is not not well spendt.

HAMILTON: BUT NOT IF IT CONCERNS YOUR DAUGHTER is a Swedish thriller, based on a popular novel character, and a follow-up to HAMILTON: IN THE INTEREST OF THE NATION. This is a lesser sequel in every respect, with a story that somehow manages to be more simplified and more complex at the same time; as well as that, it's not particularly suspenseful as a movie. Watching this you realise just how good the original film was.

Still, it's not all bad, and HAMILTON 2 certainly isn't a poor film by any means. The tale of international terrorism and political machinations is a well-written one, so it's just a shame than the central thriller plot is so basic. Hamilton goes around and questions suspects and then embarks on a mission to rescue his kidnapped goddaughter. That's all there is to it, and the ending in particular is oddly anti-climatic, leaving you wondering 'is that it?'

Fans will find the production values remain strong after the first movie, and the acting is also of a superior quality. I wouldn't have minded the basic storyline had it propped up some strong action scenes, but the action is very limited here and not particularly well shot by director Tobias Falk, who previously directed some BATTLE FRONT video games. However, Mikael Persbrandt is an engaging and charismatic screen presence, so it's a pity he doesn't have as much to get his teeth into as he did in the last film. Seba Mubarak also returns in support, and Frida Hallgren does good work as the crusading light. Watch out for cameoing British stars Steven Waddington, David Rintoul, and Cal MacAninch.

But still a good movie nevertheless. It's just that the first movie set a higher standard and of course the sequel was going to be compared to that. Which also means, that the third movie (due in 2014 if all goes along nicely), will have a lesser burden to carry. Having said that, there is no need to watch the first movie to understand this one. Though if you're thinking about missing out on one of the movies, it'd be wise to watch the other one instead.

Hamilton reprises his role (not alone, there is other characters that are familiar from the first movie, without connecting them too much) and he does a good job. There's conspiracy, thrill and action in this movie and you will be entertained.

Since I'm a fan of the plot in the book "Men inte om det gäller din dotter" and I think that it more than well would be a really OK Hamilton-movie I got disappointed just five minutes into the movie. It has almost no resemblance what so ever with the original and it is so bad that I wonder if Guillou himself accepted the script. The last movie withs Persbrandt as Hamilton was good! I liked how the story was moved into todays world. But all the changes in this one is just horrific. I can see that if one watches this movie as a solitaire, it's OK. But still, you almost need to have read the decalogue about Hamilton to understand some of what happens. Actors performances is what makes my vote go from a minus 5 to a +2

Of course, Hamilton is no genuine Swedish spy/detective anymore, he has become a fighter in an international battlefield where terrorism, spread of values and use of natural resources are often related or intertwined, and where a small(er) country has a role of younger brother... Real decisions and actions are taken somewhere high and far away. Nevertheless, the pace is still there, actors are good and chasing/ambush scenes are catchy to follow. Well, some topics and understandings may be simplified and too black-and-fight, but - on the other hand - one cannot ponder so much on right-and-wrong in a film shorter than 1,5 hours. The ending appears too suddenly and is rather trivial, I would have expected some twist or unexpected nuance.

But still, Hamilton: Men inte om det gäller din dotter is neither disappointment nor boring, and it is definitely no US admiring film.