Hidden Agenda

It's almost become a given that as action stars age, their movies become exponentially worse, and dumber. Dolph has not been immune to this trend as evidenced by some of his most recent outings.

Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised by his latest (and last? if rumors are to be believed) film. HIDDEN AGENDA is by far Dolph's most intelligent, and probably best, movie to date. It is what MISSION IMPOSSIBLE I&II and ERASER aspired to, but failed to deliver.

The script is well-plotted and the writing crisp (I noticed it's the same writer, Les Welden, who wrote Van Damme's best recent-memory film, REPLICANT) with some nice one-liners delivered with tongue and cheek savoir-faire by Dolph. But it is the directing which stands out. Marc Grenier, whose other films I have not yet seen, delivered a terrific looking film on what was clearly a limited budget. He also got a nice performance out of Dolph who is usually constrained to one-sentence grunts and kicks. The action and suspense were plentiful as were the twists and turns.

Overall, a must-see for any Dolph fan, or any movie goer who likes intelligent, suspenseful films. It's a shame films like this one get relegated to direct-to-video status when so many other horrible movies find the big screen just because stars are in them. My $8 would've certainly been better spent on this than half the films I've seen this year.

****1/2 out of 5 stars.

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

If you're an avid action fan,you'd have to have been living on planet Mars for about the past month and a half not to have heard newspaper rumours that apparently Dolph Lundgren,our favourite DTV action star,is quitting acting for 20 years.

If this abhorrent rumour is proved to be true (and pray to God it isn't!) ,then HA is a fine movie to depart on.

The plot is basically a spin on Arnold Schwarzenegger's Eraser,with Dolph as Witness Protection Agent Justin Price,who must put a face to a mystery assasin who's bumping off his people.It is truly as hard-to-follow as M:I-2,and way too jumbled for a movie of this sort.

The action scenes,however,are brilliant,working on both the fight scenes,the gunfights and the explosions.This delivers the goods Dolph fans have ordered with their rental fare,and the Swedish man will always be the king of DTV action movies,no matter what the outcome.

Speaking of the fans,don't let his previous film Agent Red put you off from seeing another movie with him in it,let's just say this is a much more,er,PROFESSIONAL effort.***

The biggest effect this film had on me was the element of surprise at watching a Dolph Lundgren film where he doesn't possess a weapon bigger than his arm! Instead, what we see here is a more subtle Dolph, drinking champagne and smoking fine cigars.

After Johnny Mnemonic, almost every single Lundgren film has centred around him and in this effort, he proves a worthy centre piece. I've always liked Dolph, but understand his critics as he has been massively typecast. I advise his doubters to see Hidden Agenda as he gives an understated (by his standards) performance and is charismatic and charming enough to pose as a smooth operating entrepreneur. As expected, in the action scenes, Dolph is brilliant and will keep his hardcore fans happy. Support is adequate. Maxim Roy as the love interest is sexy and puts in a good performance. The supporting cast is unspectacular and simply take a backward stance to allow Lundgren to perform.

The plot is also a surprise as it is intelligent and builds up an atmosphere. When I say intelligent, I'm not talking Oldboy, Eternal Sunshine or The Abyss, but that it is not just a case of blowing stuff up. The plot has fairly predictable twists and turns but they are entertaining enough. The methodology of the identification programs is very interesting and the conspiracy theories do well to keep the audience engaged to the end.

A likable film with a surprising Lundgren in the thick of it, Hidden Agenda is a slightly above average film that is good at killing an hour and a half!

I caught this little baby on TV the other night, sweet jesus I didn't expcet it to be good. There it was late at night, in a slot usually reserved for films whihc have Lorenzo Lamas in them or the director is credited as Alan Smithee or Cecil B. Demented.

As soon as Dolph Lundgrens name popped up I nearly switched off immediately, as my mind suddenly wondered to films he has appeared, such classics as Last Warrior and Agent Red. The TV guide gave it a fairly good write up, saying it was pretty decent, but very confusing. What they found confusing I don't know. That is a problem with a thriller like this, if it hasn't got big names behind it, or is starring some high profile star, then people don't concentrate fully when watching. Look at all those people who found the Matrix really hard to follow, they thought little of the idea of Keanu Reeves doing sci-fi and didn't give the film their undivided attention, and actually listened and watched, the same with this film. If you see the name Dolph Lundgren and thriller in the same sentance in a straight to videoer most reviewers will be browsing through magazines and popping their head up at intermissions to watch the butt kicking.

This isn't exactly original or even exceptionally written in any way, but it follows the rules of good thrillers, the twisting plot, the shady characters, deliberate confusing elements early on to add a sense of mystery. The action was okay but there could have been more, they were pretty short really. I did like Lundgren in this, he is actually playing an interesting person, not just big lump number one.

There are a lot better, and with some actual money put into them, but there a lot more worse thrillers than this, I enjoyed it. $$$/$$$$

Ex-agent(?) Price(Dolph in an atypical role, if he does still sport a gun... and automatic pistol) designed the Daedelus program to hide those who must not be found. He's asked by a criminal(?) named Elkert to help him out with it, and then his friend and colleague(?), Sonny goes under, as well. But something goes wrong, and the team behind it, including our lead, have to determine what's going on, before The Cleaner, the perfect(and anonymous) assassin, finds his next victim. This is a picture of two halves, the first one a thriller(with insipid suspense music), second one an action flick(with an overly techno-sounding score). It holds your attention better in the latter, with numerous reveals to the onslaught of plot twists(at least most of them do surprise us), though by the end, several things feel unresolved(it doesn't help that it has no specific "villain", or a central goal for our heroes), and it consistently feels too vague, to the point where you can't trust anyone. The one-liners are few and bad. Storytelling is severely lacking, with this being immensely confusing. You probably have to watch it several times just to figure out what's even going on, and before attempting to sit through this more than once, well, you'd have to come up with a reason for doing so. The filming is decent, although coverage on the fight scenes(as well as lighting, sometimes) is below average. This uses slow-motion, and sometimes, still frames(...yeah, wrap your head around that one) in those bits sometimes, and it doesn't do so to good effect. There is some violence, strong language and brief sexuality and topless female nudity in this. I recommend this to fans of mindless entertainment. 5/10