Attended the first screening of Clash at the Tribeca film Festival. It was billed as the "international premiere". The place was packed, the director was in attendance and there was an expectation of seeing something special. By the end of the film things had turned less happy.
The plot of the film has a woman code named Phoenix assembling a team of men to help her steal a lap top from a group of French men. She has to complete several missions in order to win freedom for herself and her daughter who is being held hostage. But things don't go right from the start and only get more complicated as people die and traitors appear.
I've just over sold the film. Its nowhere near as exciting as I make that out to be. Actually there isn't much of anything until we get to the action sequences that punctuate the film. The action is very good, with a couple of nice small twists, but it is not at all ground breaking nor does it match the description in the film festival write up (and one has to wonder about any film where you have to draw attention to its box office take).
The trouble in the film comes in major three places.
First the film is terribly soapy. There are longing looks and measured breaths and any number of soap opera like touches that are used to heighten the dramatic parts. Frankly by the end of the film the audience was laughing at the over cooked nature of the longing looks. Its dull and boring and people around me were snoring.
Secondly the film insists it has style and attitude. It has an amped up soundtrack like many Hollywood films. It is often filmed in a style that apes the many better, and worse, Asian films floating around. Those films pull off the attitude by actually backing the material up with a grittiness lacking here. Yes, the action has what it takes, but the rest feels like dress up.
The last problem, and its a killer, the film makes no sense. Nothing or very little is explained. Things just happen. There is an exchange early on where our heroine insists that no one ask questions. She might as well have been talking to the audience as events transpire with out rhyme or reason. For example we get part of a talk about a raid on the French men's house and what plan to use and then suddenly they are in motion on a plan set up by a guy who never said anything. (Forgive me I want to give a second example of the nonsense of the plot but find that none of it makes any sense in the details) The action is worth seeing but wait for a point where you can borrow a copy from a friend.
The plot of the film has a woman code named Phoenix assembling a team of men to help her steal a lap top from a group of French men. She has to complete several missions in order to win freedom for herself and her daughter who is being held hostage. But things don't go right from the start and only get more complicated as people die and traitors appear.
I've just over sold the film. Its nowhere near as exciting as I make that out to be. Actually there isn't much of anything until we get to the action sequences that punctuate the film. The action is very good, with a couple of nice small twists, but it is not at all ground breaking nor does it match the description in the film festival write up (and one has to wonder about any film where you have to draw attention to its box office take).
The trouble in the film comes in major three places.
First the film is terribly soapy. There are longing looks and measured breaths and any number of soap opera like touches that are used to heighten the dramatic parts. Frankly by the end of the film the audience was laughing at the over cooked nature of the longing looks. Its dull and boring and people around me were snoring.
Secondly the film insists it has style and attitude. It has an amped up soundtrack like many Hollywood films. It is often filmed in a style that apes the many better, and worse, Asian films floating around. Those films pull off the attitude by actually backing the material up with a grittiness lacking here. Yes, the action has what it takes, but the rest feels like dress up.
The last problem, and its a killer, the film makes no sense. Nothing or very little is explained. Things just happen. There is an exchange early on where our heroine insists that no one ask questions. She might as well have been talking to the audience as events transpire with out rhyme or reason. For example we get part of a talk about a raid on the French men's house and what plan to use and then suddenly they are in motion on a plan set up by a guy who never said anything. (Forgive me I want to give a second example of the nonsense of the plot but find that none of it makes any sense in the details) The action is worth seeing but wait for a point where you can borrow a copy from a friend.