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  The Detonator (DVD)

Starring: Wesley Snipes.

Rated: 15.

Story: A maverick Department of Homeland Security agent (Snipes) goes after arms smugglers in Eastern Europe and winds up on the wrong side of the authorities and the local mafia. Cue a couple of daring escapes with love interest in tow, a car chase, some predictable double-crossing and a shoot out over a weapon of mass destruction. Again.

Comments: This isn't awful but it's so generic that I'd forgotten its existence a fortnight after watching it. There are some decent action sequences but the whole thing is a Frankenstein's monster of every action film you've ever seen. Everything from the nerve gas storyline to the twist at the end seems bolted on from somewhere else. It's like they spliced together three or four subplots that Bourne and Bond didn't have time to deal with, stuck an in-your-face title on top and then gave the lead role to the first person who walked past the studio. Wesley Snipes is a little out of place but we should just be thankful it wasn't Dolph Lundgren, Stallone or that guy from Police Academy who only talks in grunts and screeches.

Conclusion: I'll probably watch it again if I discover it while channel hopping late at night... but mainly because I won't remember having seen it before.

Explosions: There might have been...
Stunts: Yeah, I think there were one or two...
Setting: Erm...
Plot: Uh...
Characters: Um...
Memorable moments: Er...
Thing I need to avoid: Reviewing this again tomorrow because I've forgotten I've done it already.

Rating: 3/5.

Labels: action, film review, quick

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