Let me start by saying I watched the 114 minutes DVD-version and that's what I'll be reviewing.
Paul Hood is appointed Director of a special agency monitoring situations all over the world. It has hand picked expertise in all sorts of field and has the cooperation of all big agencies at their disposal. Their code-name: OP Center. On his first day Hood has to deal with a situation in Ukrania. Three nuclear warheads are stolen by ex-KGB agents. It's all up to OP Center to track them down and get them back.
The story is good, but the script isn't quite there. I missed the characters. You didn't get to know anything about them. You got to know a little about one or two, but not enough to get to know them. Now, remember I'm commenting on the DVD-version, I'll imagine you'll get more time to get to know the characters in a mini-series. Cause I was left with unexplained behavior by the characters and I wasn't impressed at all. The action is also weird. They're mostly in the command room and things are happening too fast. Now, you keep up with it it's not that, it's just that for instance too little time to come up with and execute a plan. They're jumping past many hours and you don't know what they did. Did they all go home to bed? It looks that way and I find that odd. And then there are some characters that you really don't know who is.
The actors are OK. They're not great, but they do a decent job. The lack of good character kind of takes the juice out of the actors. Harry Hamlin is good as Paul Hood.
What's probably the best thing about this movie is the cinematography. It's absolutely nice to watch. There are nice shots with nice composition and the little touch to it. The scenes are nicely lit, both day and night. The editing is all over OK, but there are something here and there.
The sets and decorations are OK. It's not the most recent movie so things look a little wannabe high-tech, but you don't really mind it. The look of the OP Center is good, with glass and a clean impersonal look to it.
The score is orchestral and has a proud military feel to it. It has a theme that you don't get hooked on, but recognize. It works good, but there are some places where they go away from the established sound and feel of the music and go for a more easy moody score. That sounded kind of odd, but it's minor details. All together with score and sound-mix, it's a movie that sounds good.
All in all OP Center is OK as a movie. There are some continuity and other goofs here and there, but it survives. What really kills this movie is the fact that it's not a movie. Cutting down a mini-series is a bad idea and it don't make a good movie. I guess the explanations to many of the characters behavior that I found strange lies in the lost screen time. My advise don't watch this movie, watch the mini-series.
