Storm Catcher

Quite bad indeed. Why on earth Dolph agreed to do this I'll never know. Maybe he just had some spare time. But he could have done something more worthwhile than this bore.

The story focuses on Jack Holloway who test flies a top secret plane (stock footage of a real plane that is not called Storm Catcher) and is framed for stealing it and hiding it in a hut out in the desert...or something. The way the story develops is VERY clichéd although I never did see the "twist" coming so it kind of did succeed there.

There are a few redeeming features, such as Mystro Clark as "Sparks" (desperately trying to add some black jive to the movie) and there are two oddball special agents who crop up every now and again but serve no real purpose other than to look like Hugo Weaving from The Matrix. I tell ya, the resemblance is uncanny. The woman who plays Holloways wife is badly miscast (and has found it difficult to get work since admitting her fondness of anal sex on the Howard Stern show) although the kid playing his daughter is a rather good actress.

Director (and Hugo Weaving lookalike) Anthony Hickox insists on using hand-held cameras in scenes that don't them and steadicam on scenes that do. I don't know what his method or technique of film-making is but it sucks.

The tagline is totally wrong too and gives you the impression that the story is going to build to a more satisfying climax. But it doesn't. Dolph is neither convicted nor is he sentenced so that is a huge lie.

Watch this movie on TV but do NOT rent it and do NOT buy it like I did. Save your money for Dolph's best movie...Joshua Tree.

This movies had decent parts but making luvable big lug Dolph act like a loving,sensitive,middle-aged family man just looked silly. Dolph needs to play a emotionless killing machine,which is what he does best. Tony Hickox's directing was pretty good even though it was a little over the top at times. The film looks higher quality than you'd expect but the story and the dialogue are lacking. Mystro Clark is horrible and should have been replaced with Louis Gossett,Jr. For a much better recent Dolph flick, check out Bridge of Dragons.

I have to say that this movie gets an "A" for effort for at least trying to be a good action movie. And although on some points it fails to deliver, it is still however an entertaining action movie. As a said above there are a few things that aren't that good about this movie. There are only really too things that stand out to me:

1- The needless graphic, and sometimes slow motion, violence. We don't need a closeup, slow-motion shot of a guy spitting blood just to make the movie better.

2- Some of the camera angles- In some of the more "dramatic" scenes in the movie, the camera tends to have a life of its own and seem to shake quite violently. This is so bad that you can barely see what is happening in the scene and it ruins it. Another thing is the excessive use of slow-motion. Anthony Hickox, as you will notice, is no John Woo. Except for one scene I can think of, this type of filming doesn't work in the movie.

Apart from that this movie is rather entertaining and, aside from the usual B-Movie plot-holes and bad acting, can provide a decent nights entertainment. I give a 6/10 purely on entertainment value alone.

PS: Notice how in one shot of the StormCatcher, one of the control panels looks somewhat like a control panel from The Enterprise? See if you can spot it at the beginning of the film.

It was on TV last night. I wasn't expecting anything since I knew nothing about it. There were some negative parts, plot gaps, action gaps, logic gaps, the use of what appears to be a F-117A as the new "mystery" super plane. If you took it seriously and you had any idea about military, then there is a good chance you will not like this at all. I have plenty of knowledge about military matters but I still enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of one of those war movies from the 80's, with lower budget and not much time given to film or edit it.

If you used to enjoy those films and you are willing to turn down your thinking for the duration of this movie, you can enjoy it. The action sequences are OK enough, Dolph has the best performance among the other actors and the whole thing is ridiculous enough to be interesting to watch to see what is going to happen next.

Not sure if I am ever going to buy the DVD of it, but I do not regret at all watching it last night.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Strangely reminiscent of his earlier feature The Peacekeeper in a way,Storm Catcher is Dolph Lundgren's most solid,effective film of late.Directed with assured self style by Warlock helmer Anthony Hickox (who also stars inspiringly enough),this involvingly blends in impressive action scenes,character development and story telling to culminate into a thouroughly entertaining whole.The good,clean fun element of the story however,is ruined by some wanternly unnecessary bad language and bloodshed,which provide cactus stings in the back.Another funny query is if the bad guys went around America stealing company vans to perform their deeds.We see them in an ice cream van and what looks like a furniture company van.Why on earth would members of the milatary need to get themselves mobile in them?Still,it's near impossible to find an action film that doesn't have at least a trace of implausibilaty and weirdness in it.And speaking of which ,look out for Neighbour's Annalese Kimberly Davies as one of two extremely weird FBI agents who follow all the important characters around.***