Nick Fury: Agente da S.H.I.E.L.D

The title should remind you that this is nothing to take serious. It also seems that they where -thank God- aware of that when making the movie; it's based on a comic book for pete's sake! That's it's only real asset; irony. This is the first film where I actually thought David Hasselhoff was fun to watch. Far from hysterical, just plain fun-if-you-havent-got-better-things-to-do. Playing the cigarchewing Nick Fury with an eyepatch he reminds us somewhat of Snake Plissken in "Escape From New York" and "L.A.", however the movie itself is far even from the standards of "Escape From L.A.".

Truthfully, for a made for TV movie, it was actually pretty good. I liked the actors playing the subordinate roles. The special effects were passable since this was not a full feature film. The only problem I had was that the actress playing Viper was way, way too hammy. As for David Hasselhoff (beside the fact that it was David Hasselhoff, which I overlooked), I thought he really looked the part of a retired Nick Fury. He captured the Nick Fury mannerisms pretty well. Too bad the audience didn't give him the pass that were given to other actors from bad series (cough, Smallville, cough). I would have really liked a series made of Nick Fury. If the critics were as harsh on the Star Trek series as they were on this movie, Star Trek would never have survived. And most of the early episodes in each of the Star Trek series were far worse than this movie. Give this movie a break. We all missed out on seeing Nick Fury every week. Which is a shame because it would have only gotten better!

This made me laugh so much I wish I'd taped it to enjoy again. Risible dialogue, hopeless miscasting. Re-using the the same disused tunnel over and over again for every scene. The Airfix model of the USS Nimitz with rockets glued on that passed for the Helicarrier. It recalled Patsy's " It's only a model " quote in Monty Python's and the Holy Grail. The bloke off Holby City spoofing Hugh Grant's impersonation of a clichéd British fop. The Viper Nazi bird's horrendous over acting. The fact she disguised herself as the spy off 'Allo Allo' complete with beret and overcoat at one point was hilarious. The whole concept of Anarco - Nazi's was hilarious too.The bad continuity ( how did the LMD get into the Hydra base ? )The silly throw away lines. The unconvincing fight stunts. The bald Hydra blokes who looked like 80's techno rockers. I must find a DVD of this. There must be more bits I missed the first time. Everyone must have had a ball making this. Why wasn't there a sequel ?

This movie received a lot of flack, and it's not all undeserved. Yes, Andra Hess is an absolutely terrible actress who can't resist camping up the series and turning Hydra into a complete parody as opposed to a legitimate threat. Yes, the story could have used a bit more work. But where this film got things right, it REALLY got them right.

The Agents of SHIELD are all well-cast and did great work in their roles. But I want to bring special attention to David Hasselhoff. The man gets a lot of flack for his performance in the role and I think a lot of that is just because he's David Hasselhoff. But in truth, this is probably the finest performance of his career. Hasselhoff nails not only the look, but the personality of Nick Fury and he looks like he stepped right out of a Steranko comic.

It really is a shame that Hasselhoff's performance and potential future as Nick Fury was completely overshadowed both by his own reputation and by the bad elements of the film. Given a proper villain in the form of a well-cast, well-written Baron Strucker, this would have been an incredible telefilm that would have led into an amazing television series.

Sticking to the content better than the still enjoyable telefilm Generation X, Nick Fury still provided a lot of enjoyment for fans of the comic who got to see their favorite characters brought to life. Having read the comics I found it fun seeing Fury, Gabe Jones, Dugan (Who was never called "Dum Dum" as he is in the comics, thank God), Quartermain, Viper and even Baron Von Strucker.

Hasselhoff did a good job, playing Fury much like he is in the comics, tough as nails yet likeable. Neil Roberts was a standout as Pierce as well, and I particularly liked Fury's line after he seemingly died ("I got better"). When have comic fans not heard that.

A great film. I watched it again not too long ago, and liked it still. A lot of fun for fans and anyone who enjoys stuff that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Have a good day then.