Ecks vs. Sever Review
by Homer Yen (homer_yen AT yahoo DOT com)September 23rd, 2002
"Ballistic" – Plenty of Explosions, but Story is a Dud
by Homer Yen
(c) 2002
Guess what the director's name of the film "Ballistic" is. Believe it or not, his nickname is Kaos. It seems perfectly logical! Yet, that might be the only logical connection you'll find in this explosion-ridden action film that is as coherent as the fine print of a whole life insurance policy. It has rogue agents, a kidnapped boy, corrupt police, and other points that make it difficult to connect the dots.
Even the title doesn't make any sense. The film is actually called "Ballistic: Ecks v. Sever". The funny thing is that Ecks (Antionio Banderas) and Sever (Lucy Liu) aren't even enemies. The only 'versus' comparison is really which one looks cooler in sunglasses while clad in black. The other 'versus' comparison is which one speaks less. You see, there is only a smattering of dialogue that gets sandwiched between flying bullets and falling bodies. But when they do find the need to speak, we eventually learn that they need to work together to find a common enemy.
That enemy is named Gant (Gregg Henry), an FBI agent-gone-bad who has stolen a micro-robotic thingamajig. It's an evil weapon to be sure, which can be inserted into a person's bloodstream. When activated, it injects that body with a poison that makes the victim look like as if he had just suffered a heart attack.
So far things are uncomplicated. But there are a lot of other issues that populate the movie that takes the whole fun out of it. For example, it seems the only Ecks has the background and the training to hunt down Gant. But he feels unmoved to help while mourning the loss of his wife, even though it may have been Gant that was responsible. Meanwhile, Sever is a rogue agent and is somewhat of an enigma. We see that she is looking for revenge, speaks very little, and fights a lot. You'll like Lucy Liu's cool and poise as she manages to single-handedly beat up a SWAT squad. But movies like this need to make beating up people look fun.
Instead, the film turns Ecks and Sever into stoic icons while just offering moderately cool distractions. For example, there's a scene in which a couple talks in an aquarium. In the background, you can see the fish swimming while diffused rays of sunlight try to add a sense of poetry to their dialogue. The music soundtrack plays the kind of music you might hear while sipping java at one of those cool coffee cafes or while at a performance of Blue Man Group. But the film has the emotional zing of a mushroom.
Even the climactic battle is a snoozer. It takes place in a rail yard that spouts fire and smoke in which bad guys come at you like pop-up targets in a video game. This part would probably be more fun if we had a joystick in our hand. Even Ray Park, who has a bit part as the top henchman and who was so formidable looking as Darth Maul in "Star Wars I" doesn’t really get to display his fighting prowess. Because "Ballistic" all but ignores the human element, it is difficult to feel any sense of attachment to the story or for the characters.
Grade: C
S: 0 out of 3
L: 1 out of 3
V: 2 out of 3
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
