Lacks the smarts and emotional punch of what these type of thrillers require nowadays. A promising (yet somewhat tired) plot gets undone by heavy-handed directing, eye-rolling cinematic cliches and characters that are never fully rounded out. Average.
Phenomenal stunts, action and top-notch filmmaking in the service of an emotionally shallow story. Time should have been given to develop the emotions of the characters before plunging us headfirst into relentless (but stunningly--executed) action sequences. The whole ending felt on-the-nose and un-earned emotionally. And was I the only one who was slightly concerned that our "hero" brutally killed about 100 regular Indian policemen who were just doing their job??? Killing ruthless drug-lords is passable... but man, Chris just WASTED those cops and left about 1000 people fatherless and husbandless!!! :D
An awesomely creepy and unsettling update of the Body Snatchers story. Why this film was not better received is beyond me, as it's a far superior film that it has any right to be. The filmmaking and direction is spot on. It's well-constructed narrative is somewhat letdown by the messy last few minutes - but leaving that aside, its a ripper of a movie and one that deserves to be revisited. Far, far superior than the Nicole Kidman "remake" years later, The Invasion.
A well-crafted, personally focused story of Robert The Bruce. It's not a grand epic, actioner like 'Braveheart', so if you go in expecting that then you will miss what the filmmakers were going for. A passion project for it's star Angus MacFadyen, it's love for the history is within every frame, and taken on its own terms and not compared with other films in the genre, it's a unique and effective drama.
A smart, simple and effective thriller and once again proves that bigger, louder and more expensive does not necessarily mean better. Another win for one of Australia's smartest directors.
