Masterminds Review
by David Sunga (rlaser AT unforgettable DOT com)September 1st, 1997
Masterminds
A movie review by David Sunga
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Vincent Kartheiser, Brenda Fricker. Brad Whitford. Matt Craven
Directed by: Roger Christian.
Synopsis:
An androgynous-looking teen computer hacker named Ozzie (Vincent Kartheiser ) mouths off to his father, stepmother, and younger stepsister. His parents force him to escort his little sister to her wealthy elementary school. But just as he finishes dropping his sister off, the place gets taken over by kidnappers led by former military commando Rafe Bentley (Patrick Stewart). The kidnappers seal off the building and hold the kids for ransom, setting the scene for yet another version of either 'Home Alone' or 'Die Hard'. Most of the movie consists of scenes of people crawling around through ducts and sewer tunnels, and the kid hero aggravates the bad guys' by turning on the school sprinkler system. Bad guy Rafe Bentley (Patrick Stewart) escapes, but with no one chasing him, Bentley mysteriously leaps his getaway dune buggy into a sewer reservoir. Simultaneously, on the other side of town, the alienated hacker decides to accept his stepmother and stepsister as family, for no apparent reason.
Opinion: This movie didn’t know what to do with itself. It seemed like the movie couldn’t decide whether to be 'Die Hard' or 'Home Alone', so it missed out on the advantages of both. The criminals didn't seem driven or dangerous, and the stunts didn't seem believable, so 'Masterminds' wasn't a credible action movie. Yet the film also lacked the physical comedy and charismatic cute kid to succeed as a funny comedy.
Reviewed by David Sunga
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.
