Masterminds

'No good kid' Ozzie takes his young stepsister to school, and winds up in a hostage of the school by head of security Rafe Bentley (Patrick Stewart from Startrek / X-men). As Ozzie says himself: We got a die hard situation here people!

Thank goodness Ozzie is some sort of (computer)whizkid (apparently learned it from his dad) and sabotages the bad guys in many ways. Now, this computer thing is going way out of hand, with him infiltrating in the Pentagon (or something) in the beginning of the movie and his dad touching 2 keys and immediately infiltrates in the bad guys files... You also see the obligatory flickering 'NO ACCESS' and stuff like that... but who cares!

Near the end the movie loses it's touch a bit with a chase in the sewers (or something) and Patrick Stewart claiming to be a Manchester United fan... one of the worst scenes in movie history, I must admit.

But for 'one of the worst movies ever' (as it's sometimes called), I thought the movie was highly enjoyable. Flawed yes, far-fetched sure, but still...

Final score: 5/10.

I must say after sneaking several clips of die hard behind my parents back, i actually found this movie quite entertaining.

I first heard of this movie from the friend of a friends sawing they didn't like it at all and that it was a sucky movie. Not really the best reason to rent a movie but then again I was getting real tired real quick out of all the romance comedies that my mother and sister had been renting, (Twenty is enough to kill someone) this action flick is very good.

The director brought action and comedy into the movie. The script was very well written except for in one or two spots but other than that if you like a teenage hacker kicking bad guys @$$ you'll enjoy this flick staring Vincent Kartheiser and Patrick Stewart. Both actors give a fine performance. I'm not use to seeing Patrick Stewart in a bad guy role (parents star trek fans) but he pulled it off well. Kartheiser was a face i hadn't seen before but he is a very talented actor and also was believable in the film as the hacker teen.

The movie carries itself fine though i thought the ending could be a little better but i still liked the film. 9/10 is how i rate it.

Like Ozzie says when it's getting wrong: 'We have a Die Hard situation'. But its Die Hard for kids, a thousand bullets, without anyone getting hurt, no swearing and no sex. See it on video, it's for anyone above 10 and PG? I think not, parents could be very bored watching this. I myself (28) enjoyed it.

I first saw this movie on cable, and loved it. After that i saw it a few more times, and each time noticed a little someting more new. Adults (over 25) may think of this as a foolish or dull movie, but it was not targeted towards them. It was targeted towards the high schooler who wishes something like this could happen so that he could feel better about himself. Each individual part is very well acted, and adjusted to work with the acting styles of the other actors. The harmony among the actors is impresive to say the least. V. Kartheizer is an actor that very few have heard of, but the work he does is outstanding. If you are looking for a movie to see on a friday night, this is it.

When I started watching this, I basically just had the TV on and I didn't know what it was about. After about 20 minutes you realise what it is - it's Die Hard in a School for teenagers! Kartheiser plays Bruce Willis' character with Patrick Stewart doing Alan Rickman duties. The film even has elements of the Die Hard movies - comic interplay over the radio, twisty escape plans, running down corridors and through ventilation shafts etc.

The only problem is that this is a kids movie - it's too basic for adults with too little tension or drama and it may even be a bit scary for young children. Which only leaves teenagers as it's audience. It's a shame, because this is not as bad as it sounds - it's reasonable undemanding fun. True, the action is not exactly what we've come to expect from an action movie - but for a kids version of Die Hard it's not bad!

Patrick Stewart is good as the bad guy and plays the whole thing with his tongue in his cheek - at one point in the film making his getaway wearing a Manchester United strip! The rest of the adult cast is ok (including well known faces such as Brenda Flicker and Whitford), but the weak link is unfortunately Kartheiser who, for most of the film plays it like a really annoying version of Malculy Culkin! It's unfortunate because it's hard to care about him when he's being a snotty arrogant teenager.

This won't satisfy many adults and will be too scary for kids (all the plot twists will be lost on them as well). But as a Die Hard for 12-15 year olds then this will satisfy most boys going through puberty.