The Pandora Project

Ok, ok, I know. Still, after HLOTS, Trees Lounge and Vampires; if I see one he's in, I take a peek. He's the only Baldwin brother who can truly act, when he has the script *or*, as I see here, when he has enough direction keeping him from just walking through a movie he obviously made just to pay bills. The poor acting by all involved was painful to watch.

Not that there's much to do in this one here, the plot is lame, unexciting and predictable and the filming routine and uninspired.

After someone once adamantly told me, that for a screenwriter to be read at all means a break of luck, to be produced is like winning the state lottery and how much horrid, amateur scripts are out there through which producers have to wade, well after that I keep wondering just how duds like this one sneak past. Because this *is* a bad story, a bad plot, a bad film, an entire waste of people's time -- where did they get the money for it?

My high school students write better.

Due to the character limit I'll toss good grammar to the wind and just do some run-on listing.

Pro's: possibly *zero* gratuitous swearing, pockets of appropriate orchestral music, some beautiful aerial photography and ground scenery, some experienced acting, a few nods/tributes paid to other movies including a funny Clint Eastwood-ish scene, no young-and-cookie-cutter actors, good/believable explosions, some pretty good "energy bomb" effects, excellent voice track, especially compared to some other B-movies, and the credits show *two* fire safety advisors, an excellent thing. Unfortunately, the credits got cut off to start a Pokecrap cartoon.

Con's: movie can't hold my attention for long spurts, something about Baldwin's hair is very bad, some amateurish and over-cooked acting, a guy gets shot on left and spins to the right, another guy gets shot on left and falls backward, straight to the floor like a stiff board that got hit dead-center, some unnecessary "Old West" guitar-twangin' and some attempts at humor that seem badly written and/or poorly acted.

Probably because of the huge success "Under Seige" enjoyed, and I imagine continues to enjoy on video with action fans, Erika Eleniak of "Baywatch" fame has molded a career in and out of military action films. Most have been direct-to-video, all have been duds, including the Dennis Hopper comedy "Chasers." Considering that most ex-Playboy centerfolds concentrate on erotic videos it could be worse. If Erika's handlers were trying to mold her into a female Chuck Norris, okay, great idea, but she's mostly the damsel in distress, hence, a second banana. That's too bad, because Erika Eleniak is a good actress, easy on the eyes, and the type of star a studio used to mold into academy award winning status. She should have easily taken the roles offered to Sharon Stone and moved onto the roles offered Julia Roberts. I suppose when a great actress is saddled into cheap flicks she eventually reaches cult status (film noir queen Sally Forrest comes to mind).

A government agent (Daniel Baldwin) must find a stolen secret military weapon before a renegade (Richard Tyson) wreaks havoc upon the world.

Please, don't expect a masterpiece, but, in my opinion, it's a very watchable movie!

I know...there are better films in this genre... But it doesn't deserve the grade that many are giving here.

The plot is simple, and similar to the most action movies. The film's outcome is not surprising, it is quite predictable.

The action scenes are well done!

The cast's performance is good. Daniel Baldwin, Richard Tyson and Erika Eleniak were fine.

The ending is classic, don't expect surprises!

Rating: 6/10.

The Pandora Project looks (and smells) like an ordinary action-movie, but the film is quite good. The action is ok, it is exiting. The bad thing about the movie is the end which is predictable. Specialy when Erika get caught by the bad guy.