Pingo-2
I loved the comic. Really nicely done and interesting story where we followed XIII through the painstaking puzzling to understand what he went through and who he was.Here we're presented with everything from the start, so the surprise effects are all gone. This of course makes the whole setup vanish, and suddenly the miniseries is nothing more than just a Bourne-copy - and very mediocre one too.The miniseries has sloppy editing, bad acting, a tremendously stupid and boring "conspiracy" and some really nutty 1980's styled scenes. We have a professional "agent" leaving a trail of bodies behind him for anyone to see. He calls up his enemies so they can know he's coming for them. Basically, he's so stupid that we just stops to care.There are a few nice things in this series though. Stephen Dorph is on his way to become a new Jason Statham. His stunts are good, and he's doing the best he can with the material he has.Best is however Greg Bryk as Amos - the only intelligent person in the whole thing. I both like the actor AND the characters, which is saying a lot when it comes to this mess.Overall, this is just something you'd see if you don't have anything else to watch. Otherwise, skip it. It's not worth the time investment.
TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews
I've been a fan of the comics since I first read them years ago, so I've approached every adaptation I have found with a hope that it would do them justice, and a fear that it wouldn't. And yes, this is similar to the Bourne series, as I understand it, Van Hamme, the author, liked the Ludlum book(s?), and used some of the same ideas. This and the 2003 video game both get certain(but not necessarily the same) things right, whilst failing on others. In tone, this comes fairly close. It's disturbing, dark and, at times, the ideas in this are brutal. The humor in this, while it's relatively limited(and, frankly, doesn't all work, it can feel forced), is perhaps a tad much. The overall accuracy is reasonable, and several changes do make sense. They updated the story to present day(it was, when it was a graphic novel, as well, but the first one came out 14 years ago), and thus also made it more modern, adding tech and such, without that taking over. Several of the characters are changed(a couple are combined, as well) and not all of the casting makes perfect sense(what on Earth happened to Jones? Sure, she looks the part, but that's about it). The plot is interesting and captured and kept my attention throughout. It doesn't develop entirely the same, though a good bit of the core of it is intact. The awesome abilities are definitely still there. Dorff and Kilmer are great. I've heard this compared to the television show 24, and I suppose I can see why. It should be noted that not all of those aspects were foreign to this franchise before this hit small screens. Episode 1 ends in a way that ought to get viewers back for the second half(which starts with repetitions of plenty of what happened in the first one) of the three hour running time. The ending is not going to satisfy everyone, however, the source material taken into account, and the fact that it isn't easy to finish it, especially in this amount of time. The cinematography and editing are excellent, the action is very well-done and exciting. The music is well-done. The production values leave little to be desired. The acting varies, as does the dialog, but there are cool moments in this. This isn't terribly graphically violent, and there's no sex. Still, it is not intended for children, and it doesn't feel like it was made to be less strong. Language is mild and infrequent, if even that. I recommend this to fans of the original(as with any other translation from one medium to another, do not expect everything to be the same), as well as anyone who enjoys this type of film/mini. 7/10
Mike Boyd
Definitely Jason Bourne + Shooter. Maybe they should've called it "The Bourne Conspiracy"? They even use the same music FFS! So apart from ripping off two excellent movies to make this hotch-potch, they didn't even get a decent dialogue coach. After 1 hour 15 minutes, Jessalyn Gilsig starts explaining exactly what's been happening, what happened to the guy and how he's got to where he is, but she whispers it and mumbles it! Why don't director's get these useless actors/actresses to do the scene again so we can hear what the hell she is supposed to be saying?Overall, well worth watching, but it could've been so much better.
