Matrixston
Wow! Such a good movie.
CommentsXp
Best movie ever!
Roman Sampson
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Kaydan Christian
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
MBunge
This C-level action movie is overly ambitious, overly complicated and almost interesting. There are moments when it seems to be going beyond well worn clichés, but then you realize that's due to bad casting and poor writing. Ignition is fast paced, has a decent amount of action and throws in just enough gratuitous nudity and profanity to get an R rating. It's better than most low-budget flicks of this type, but features a lead actress who is not at all what the typical fan of this genre wants to look at.Conor Gallagher (Bill Pullman) is a U.S. Marshal with a checkered past. He was addicted to pills, involved in a deadly shootout that left 3 other Marshals dead, lost his marriage and hasn't seen his daughter in a year and a half. Despite all that, as well as being the sort of maniac who shoots his washing machine when it acts up, he's assigned to guard federal judge Faith Mattis (Lena Olin) after an attempt on her life. What Conor and Faith quickly get caught up in is a military scandal with a renegade witness and U.S. Army death squads running all over the place. After Conor is framed for beating up a crack whore, he and the judge go on the run to get to the bottom of a mystery that improbably turns into an attempted coup and what technically has to be the biggest "running away while something explodes behind you" scene in movie history.There's no other way to put this except to be blunt. The biggest problem with Ignition is that Lena Olin looks way too old to be playing this part in this sort of film. She can still be sexy, just not as the lead female in an action flick. Yes, it wouldn't have made any sense to cast some hot 28 year old as a federal judge. That doesn't really matter in a story that's already asking you to believe the President of the United States travels in a motorcade consisting of two motorcycle cops and a few stretch limos; that has a group of military officers discuss treason like white guys at a country club making jokes about Jews; and has not one, not two, but three "running away while something explodes behind you" scenes. Casting Olin here is like making Helen Mirren the love interest in a Steven Seagal movie.Olin's inappropriateness for this material actually makes you think they're trying to do something different. It causes Faith's quarrelsome relationship with Conor to look like something more than the tired, old act where the two leads drive each other crazy until they fall in love. Then they do fall in love and you realize it was just the same tired, old stuff.Ignition also appears to be going a different way when it lets Conor have an entirely reasonable reaction to the discovery of the secret military plot. He doesn't want to do anything about it. He wants to let somebody else handle it because he's more concerned about his own personal situation. But then he abandons that surprisingly non-heroic stance for no apparent reason and starts doing the same stuff as every other action movie hero.This movie also has too many characters and too much plot that just kills time until Ignition is long enough to qualify as a legitimate feature film. It's nice for a while to watch an action flick that's a bit more involved, but when you end up with two separate reluctant witnesses to the military plot and a main villain, the main villain's chief henchman, the chief henchman's sub-henchman and a bunch of cannon fodder, in addition to ex-spouses for both lead characters, it goes a step too far. It's all a bunch of manufactured nonsense to compensate for not having enough real story to last for 90 minutes.This movie is well acted and well directed enough to be entertaining, if you can get past the fact that the main sex object of this melodrama looks like she's a member of AARP.
arlev-1
When all's said and done, the suspense build-up and chase has been done a thousand times over but it seems to work in this movie until the last twenty minutes when I have two gripes. First, the special effects ain't all that special - that's a real let down for a film that has some well shot action scenes prior and decent suspense. Second, the most implausible action finale (which I won't relate so i don't spoil it for anyone). Surely something more probable could have been thought of? Not to mention the contradictory threat which couldn't have occurred. For what began as a decent film, it was a real shame to be let down so badly at the end.
TimeForLime
This review contains ** SPOILERS **
Bill Pullman as James Bond! What's not to love? I give this film a "6" just for chutzpah.The only thing missing was an evil man like Ernest Stavro Blofeld sitting in a big chair, stroking a cat.For a refreshing change, Pullman is neither a loser at love nor a wacky genius. Instead, he is the standard issue law enforcement officer in disgrace. Busted down to U.S. Marshall (no disgrace in my book), he gets a baby-sitting job with a Federal judge.It starts off like GUARDING TESS (1994) with Nicolas Cage and Shirley MacLaine. The guardee, a recent appointee to the bench played by Lena Olin, doesn't see a need for protection, and doesn't want Pullman around. But, conveniently, a car bomb near-miss endears him to her and now she is all in favor of his professional attentions.It is at this point that we learn that the film will be faster paced than, but not as high in quality as, GUARDING TESS.But soon, we find out it is not a "babysitting" film. It is a film about secrets, about military cover up. Will it be like THE PRESIDIO (1988) with Sean Connery and Meg Ryan; or more like THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER (1999) with John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe and James Cromwell? Well, you have to fork over to find out.BUT WAIT. THERE'S MORE. After you have had your fill of incredible escapes, unbelievable revelations, reluctant patriotism, touching parenting, and the repeated overcoming of some of the world's nastiest criminals (our own armed forces) -- not to mention Annie Oakley marksmanship on the part of an untrained shooter -- you are then treated to still another kind of film FOR NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE.This final transformation is what endeared this film to my heart: it turned into a Bond film. My lips are sealed but I will say that, for budget purposes, they skipped the usual downhill skiing scenes and the airboat races through the crowded harbor of Monaco. But you do get the rest of it.I wish I could rate this an "8". If only there were separate scores for "fun" or "camp" ... ...
trodgers-3
I expected a B grade movie - but this was MUCH better than B grade.Well directed, produced and acted and INTELLIGENT (a rare commodity these days).It's not the best movie I've ever seen, but it's a better quality movie than most of the so-called "block-busters" I've seen recently...