The Shooter

It's really hard to believe that this movie was directed by the same person who directed FIRST BLOOD. I was expecting top-grade action, especially since Lundgren was the star, but the movie is a real bore. Oh, there are shootings, hand-to-hand combat, and chases, but all of this is presented to come across as just as unexciting as the rest of the movie. The script is (mostly) unsurprising, containing a major plot twist that you'll see coming from the first few minutes of the movie. (Though I admit the eventual plot turn concerning the female lead did give me a surprise.) Movie is also badly photographed, with muddy colors throughout. Lundgren tries, but is pretty overwhelmed, and the best performance turns out to be by John Ashton, playing Lundgren's buddy. Recommended only to die-hard (and very forgiving) Lundgren fans.

****SPOILERS**** After the Cuban Ambassador to the UN is assassinated in New York City the CIA, with the help of Cuban government officials, trace the killer to be the daughter of an exiled anti-Castro Cuban living in the Czech Republic who's a professional assassin named Simone Rosset and using the name of Yanna Natova, Maruschka Detmers.

With a major meeting by the Cuban and US government set in Prague to re-establish diplomatic relations between those two countries it's expected that Simone will disrupt the meeting by trying to kill both the Cuban and US officials expected to sign that agreement.

Sending US Marshall Michael Dane, Dolph Lundgren, to arrest Simone and bring her back to the US to stand trial for the Cuban Ambassador's murder Michael is met by his long time friend and US government agent Alex Reed, John Aston, to help him in finding and arresting Simone.

After tracking her down during a number of car and train chases as well as a dangerous jump, from a high bridge into the Danube River, that almost killed both Michael and Simone, Michael finally captures her. Later as Michael is about to take Simone to the Prague airport to fly with her back to the US, to be tried for murder, Simone tells him that she never was in New York the day of the Ambassador's killing and never left the Czech Republic in five years; Simone also tells Michael that she'll never live to stand trial. Simone's prediction comes sadly true when she's assassinated in a Prague hotel room after Michael saved her life from a number of assassin attempts that he foiled.

One of Dolph's better efforts showing that he could act as well as haul and kick butt that he's so well known for. Realizing, too late to save Simone's life, that it's evident that there are those in higher ups in both the US and Cuban governments who don't want that signing to take place Michael goes to the signing ceremony in Prague to prevent it from being disrupted by the real assassins of the Cuban UN Ambassador.

Great action scenes that leave you black and blue just from watching them with Dolph Lundgren at his best as the reluctant hero who breaks with his superiors, to stop the very assassination that he was assigned by them to prevent, who think that the real killer is already dead.

Maruschka Detmers is the biggest surprise in the movie by being every bit as good as Dolph in the action scenes but also touches the heart-strings with her both sensitive as well as tragic performance as the doomed Simone. Tremendous final under the streets and on top of the buildings of picturesque Prague with Dolph Lundgren, bloody T-shirt and all, saving the day by putting the bad guys on ice as well as single-handedly restoring US-Cuban relations for the first time in some forty years.

I feel bad writing this review, since my far-from-perfect rating mostly reflects my disappointment in having expected a different kind of movie. Honestly, HIDDEN AGENDA is a pretty good film from Dolph Lundgren's early DTV career...if you're looking for a spy thriller. The film is directed by the maker of FIRST BLOOD and co-written by one of the scribes behind STATE OF PLAY. Contained within a low-budget sphere, the quality is there, but it just doesn't deliver the kind of thrills I want to see from the Swedish Superman. This is definitely a movie you'll have to check out for yourself to get the full gist of it, unless you're looking for a genuine action film like me - then you can save your money.

The story: CIA agent Michael Dane (Lundgren) is assigned to apprehend the prime suspect in an ambassador's murder (Maruschka Detmers) in Prague and bring her to America, not knowing that he's about to be thrown into a web political intrigue and treachery.

Considering that the film was made for a slim $7 million and as a cooperative effort among five countries, it looks admirably good. There's one embarrassing instance early in the picture where the filmmakers had to fudge a laser pointer, but otherwise, director Ted Kotcheff's capabilities shine through - not only by successfully filming scenes you wouldn't expect to find in a cheap film, but also by making the East European filming location fun to look at. Authentic Czech is spoken throughout, which is pretty nice, and the film maintains a sense of gravity and importance that'd be exceedingly rare in Lundgren's subsequent career.

The movie isn't completely without good action. There's even a segment I particularly like, wherein Lundgren has a shootout with a sniper while clinging to the ledge of a tall building. However, the problem is that very little of the action is the kind that I like. It's almost all shootouts and car chases, which leaves exceedingly little room for martial arts. Lundgren once claimed to have injured himself before he could complete all of the scenes, which might explain the lack of more hand-to-hand action, but it's still disappointing. Additionally, however good the writing might detail the progression of the whodunit-style mystery, I have to take it to point for its truly forced romance between our two leads. Apparently Dolph's charms are so great in this picture that not even a lesbian character can withstand him.

For most fans, I'd imagine the movie is at least worth a look, unless you're on the same page as me and would miss the almost-nonexistent fisticuffs.

Although this film is not interesting for its acting or its story line, you must see it (even with the sound off) if only for the absolutely gorgeous set design, lighting design, and cinematography, which combine to make this film an eye-popping piece of eye candy. It helps that the filmmakers had the beautiful old city of Prague to film in, with its rich architectural history, romantic interiors, cobblestone streets, etc. I wanted to print out almost every scene in the film and then frame them for my walls, so gorgeous were almost all the frames of film. Try it for this! You'll love it!

'The Shooter' (aka 'Hidden Assassin' which I find much cooler title) is quite trivial on the plot wise - special agent goes to Prague to catch supposed assassin, but things aren't like they seem. But the movie is well shot - bleak and cold cinematography creates nice '90s Eastern-European vibe, and somehow manages to feel artistic. By the time of filming this movie Dolph Lundgren's acting range had improved a lot and he is not as wooden as in some of his earlier movies. Heavely flawed, but still enjoyable time passer.