Hero Wanted

Calling the characters 2 dimensional is generous. Epitome of style over substance. Gratuitous curse words in awkward places. Doses of one-upmanship machismo, again, in awkward places. Convoluted mess of a story & convenient characters shoe-horned in. Kind of uncomfortable/embarrassing to watch. One example: the little girl (who's life he had previously saved) is riding her bicycle in the city at night by herself) - comes to see CGJr's charactet & intimates she's "into" him ROMANTICALLY! Total cringe/douche-chill moment. Just BIZARRE! I threw it some stars for really cool effects and action scenes but overall nonstop doses of WTF throughout.

Now don't get me wrong - cuba G is a versatile Oscar winning g actor, its just that this role was completely unsuited for him. Cant figure out why the director/producer/promoters shortlisted him for this role that needed a far more intense almost brooding character. Otherwise the movie is,as they say over here, Good Time Pass! Pretty violent and fast moving, with a rather confusing plot that unravels itself towards the end. found the 'bad' guys rather good actually, and the good guys, well, not so good, not even Ray Liotta who is also wasted in the smallish part that he plays. Ben Cross' also smallish role is played with the panache that ben does to all his roles. Hes; one of those actors who can play Victor or villain with equal ease and effectiveness. George Menon, Goa

I was pleasantly surprised with the movie. Seemed to me to have a B movie feel starting out. It does seem like everyone is into the time shifting plots these days, but once I realized it everything else seemed to follow. I found myself trying to anticipate the next connection of pass and present. Cuba Gooding Jr. did a good job of portraying a man tortured with his pass and present. I do have to take exception to the bar scenes though. I'm not sure that Ray Liota needed to bulk up for the part but he did. Jean Smart had me kind of wondering what was going to happen in the apartment scene. Although there is predominately a U.S. cast, I think the feel of the movie was off because it was filmed in eastern Europe. Straight to DVD but worth the watch in my opinion.

i have just watched this movie expecting a lot more than i got! it is amateurish and an insult to all movie goers intelligence. i expected so much more from Cuba Gooding. What is it these days with movie makers trying to be clever with their time shifting. I have no trouble following their efforts at trying to be clever but find it unnecessary and boring.The flawed hero idea and revenge concept never hits the mark and while most of us enjoy a good old revenge movie this one doesn't pull it off. It felt like a B movie and in the end thats what it was, save your money and don't waste your time with this one. Shame on Cuba Gooding for making it

Camera work on the opening shot is just awesome.

Was is a solid straight camera leading from the street, through the apartment, out the alley, down the lane and back into the street? If it was, I think that was just a fantastic piece of direction, even though the apartment and alley didn't hold any value, but the camera work was really cool.

Overall, I liked the film a lot and thought the story was really well and most of the characters were written and portrayed good.

There was some overkill on the gunfire and the standard overdone nightclub gangster stuff, but in general, the rest was really good.

What I am trying to understand is why a bunch of movies are being filmed in Bulgaria now to represent an American city.

With a 12 million budget, filming in some small town in the US or Canada would definitely cover the bill, but a bunch of shoots are being flown overseas...how does that help on budgeting? Really...it loses it's originality.

I remember times when Vancouver would portray New York or Detroit...and while that was not fit either...Bulgaria certainly doesn't cut as inner city America or Canada at all...just the little details that make it not gel.

Aside from a few minor things, I think it's an overall good production with a great opening shot.