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6/21/2001

Swordfish stars John Travolta as Gabriel Shear, Hugh Jackman as Stanley Jobson, Halle Berry as Ginger Knowles, Don Cheadle as Agent A.D. Roberts, Sam Shepard as Senator Reisman, and look for a lot of Travolta's in the hostage extra's pool.

Swordfish starts with a bang, a great explosion and fireball scene. It gets one's attention. It is a film that is done in Voyeur Vision. Most of the scenes are done to look like poor quality photography. John Travolta also needs to learn how to do characters that aren't related to his previous films. He has the Pulp Fiction look and The General's Daughter demeanor. Swordfish is done very much in the style of David Mamet. All of these artifacts are a distraction to the film.

Having said all of that, I still liked the film. Swordfish is a film about a ruthless individual, Gabriel Shear, who will do All that it takes to achieve his end. It is one of those fast paced films, that do not allow an explanation to the person sitting next to you. If you do, you will miss the next scene. Well back to the plot, it's shallow at best. Gabriel Shear gets a computer expert to rob a CIA account of 9.5 Billion dollars. That's the plot the rest is action and Halle Berry's boobs. As with most American films they weren't necessary other than to get people into the theater. Rating, just about what you would expect for an average body, average boobs.

Swordfish had the potential to be a great film. A lot of things are wrong, however, I liked the premise of the film, a ruthless individual that would not hesitate or bluff. (I have always wanted the villain to kill Batman rather than leave him tied up in an empty warehouse) Several elements were missing that would have turned this into a great film.