Seconds to Spare (2002) (TV)

Director:

Brian Trenchard-Smith

Writers (WGA):

Brian Trenchard-Smith (written by) &
Dennis A. Pratt (written by)

Release Date:

1 May 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Action | Thriller

Plot:

When a deadly assassin hijacks a passenger train, he threatens to detonate a deadly can of poison that can wipe out an entire city...

Plot Keywords:

Train

Cast

Antonio Sabato Jr.	...	Paul Blake
Kimberley Davies	...	Rhonda Newcombe
Kate Beahan	...	Eve Lambert
Jerome Ehlers	...	Emmett Larkin
Nick Tate	...	Commander Haggarty
Alyssa-Jane Cook	...	Kristin
Victor Parascos	...	Captain Moran
Alexander Petersons	...	Laslovic (as Alex Petersons)
Paul Dalgleish	...	Yates (as Paul Dalglish)
Brad McMurray	...	O'dell
Peter Nash	...	Morgan
Nigel Leslie	...	Walters
Christopher Morris	...	Branyan
Jared Robinson	...	Danvers
Kevin Hides	...	Chief Steward

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15

Filming Locations:

Queensland, Australia

Company:

Carlton America

Poor copy of average films from a tired genre

Ex-DEA agent Paul Blake sets out from Miami to Sydney to track down a criminal he has a vendetta with. Meanwhile the EDL (Earth Defence League) carry out a raid on a chemical bunker in the Australian desert to make money and draw attention to the harm done to the earth, however the idealistic Eve Lambert doesn't realise that the "team" that is assisting with her work is none other than the associates of Larkin, the very man that Drake is hunting. Having spent about 15 minutes wandering around Sydney looking in corners, Drake spots Larkin boarding a train having carried out the EDL job. He follows them onto the train, meeting the sexy Rhonda at the same time however, when the Government try to stop the train Larkin's men take over, leaving Drake the only man able to stop him.

I might say negative things about this film but please bare in mind that I chose, of my own freewill, to watch a film with Antonio Sabato Jnr and Kimberley Davis in the title roles. Regardless of this I tuned in to find a film that took about 15 minutes to actually set up the basic story (and does it in a pretty poor way) and by the time everyone had gotten onto the train I had gotten the gist that this was basically a version of Under Siege 2 and managed to make me realise just how much fun that film is. With a "by the numbers" plot involving nerve gas, things did not look good and, sure enough, things never got above the predictable and the obvious. This leaves the fight scenes and action to really involve and, while it isn't really bad, it certainly never gets above the average and more often than not is actually around the mediocre. Every now and again people get shot, punched or thrown out of trains; it is all done without any real style or imagination and the sheer blandness of the action just sucks any remaining tension out for good.

There are people on this earth do think that the Van Damme's of this world are perhaps poor action actors but to them I simply say "you have not seen enough Antonio Sabato Jr films" because, if they had, they would hold Van Damme in higher stead. Here he is roundly poor – he has no screen presence, doesn't move that well, has poor chemistry with his co-star and, dammit, just looks plain weird. Of course he hardly risks being outperformed by Davies who is just a typical simmering blonde who doesn't even get that much screen time and barely looks mussed up at any point. Beahan is a bit annoying but, as with so many of these things, the bad guy dominates the film. This is not to say that Ehlers has a lot of competition but he does seem to be having fun even if his performance is just a poor carbon copy of much better ones.

Overall this is a pretty poor film but might just about do very undemanding genre fans who find themselves stuck with nothing better to do/watch. However with so many "Die Hard in a….." type movies around you do have to wonder whether or not we really needed another one added to the pile? On the basis of the mediocre action, bad acting, predictable plotting and total lack of excitement or tension here, the most obvious answer is no.