Alex Rider – Operation Stormbreaker (DVD-Video)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C Film: C
One of
the lamest efforts to ride the small wave of the hit Spy Kids franchise, Alex
Rider – Operation Stormbreaker (2006) is a few years late, many dollars
short, badly derivative of a Spy era now dead (especially with 9/11 factored
in) and is a harmless (if often boring) romp at best. It is based on the first of several novels
written by Anthony Horowitz, but whether the book series continues or not, one
wonders after this if the films will.
Alex
Pettyfer is the title character, who is just a regular school guy, but when his
spy uncle (Ewan McGregor) is goes missing suddenly becomes involved in his
world. He meets adults that he is not
for certain he can trust or not, but quickly learns to trust no one and gets
involved in chase after assassination attempt.
Unfortunately, none of it is interesting and I was shocked by how bad
and quickly dated this all was.
No matter
what is in the books, the film is obsessed with imitating and duplicating all
the Pierce Brosnan James Bond films from Tomorrow
Never Dies to Die Another Day
and also has a strange obsession with Remo
Williams – The Adventure Begins. Horowitz
adapted his own book as a screenplay and in the past has written for the Roger
Moore Saint, a Saint revival that did not work out, Midsomer Murders, Poirot
and Foyle’s War, so he can do
serious work in related genres. This is
just a desperate throwaway, however harmless, but young children would be better
off with certain Bond films or even Avengers
episodes versus this.
The
supporting cast in Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Bill Nighy, Sophie Okonedo,
Alicia Silverstone and Mickey Rourke as the villain. All involved were obviously filled with some
high hopes, but Johnny English was
more amusing and it too did not work.
Casting Pettyfer has Harry Potter
hopes stamped on it and the casting of a blond male was likely intended to fly
in the face of Bond, but with blond Daniel Craig and international hit in his
Bond debut Casino Royale, that too
is lost. If they do a sequel, just
smudging things around and being coy will not cut it. Only DVD and secondary market play can save
this from the cancelled pile.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image looks so pale, you would think this was
shot in digital HD, but it was instead shot in Super 35mm by Chris Seager,
B.S.C., and is amazingly bad. It would
rate lower if it were any worse. The
look is flatly lit, plastic and too impressed with its locations and sets. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not awful, but
nothing special, except that it at least has the merit of using its surrounds
often, even if it is just too keep the attention of its expected child
audience. Extras include the original
trailer and five featurettes covering the visual effects, stunts, horse chase,
adaptation and the martial arts work of Donnie Yen. That was actually all more interesting than
the final film and shorter.
- Nicholas Sheffo
