Ignition (2001)

A web of intrigue and conspiracy lies beneath the euphoria as the U.S. is about to put a man on the moon for the first time in over thirty years.

Director:

Yves Simoneau

Writer:

William Davies (screenplay)

Stars:

Bill Pullman, Lena Olin, Colm Feore

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Pullman	...	Deputy Marshal Conor Gallagher
Lena Olin	...	Judge Faith Mattis
Colm Feore	...	Gen. Joel MacAteer
Peter Kent	...	Major Brunson
Barbara Eve Harris	...	Lt. Kayla Rayne
Nicholas Lea	...	Peter Scanlon
Hrothgar Mathews	...	Sgt. Douglas Penabad
Roger Dunn	...	Agent Debakker
Benjamin Ratner	...	Agent Webber
Lori Triolo	...	Russo's Ex-Wife
John Kapelos	...	Conor's Lawyer
Michael Ironside	...	Jake Russo
Scott Hylands	...	Carlsen
Danielle Juilfs	...	Ella Gallagher
Paul Magel	...	Justin

Storyline

A web of intrigue and conspiracy lies beneath the euphoria as the U.S. is about to put a man on the moon for the first time in over thirty years.

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Plot Keywords:

u.s. space program | u.s. marshal | suv | launching pad | judge | 

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Taglines:

He thought he was protecting her life. Instead he was saving America.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

Canada UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 2002 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Kingdom Come

Filming Locations:

New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 31,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

GFT Entertainment,Hilltop Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rutger Hauer was going to star but dropped out.

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Quotes

Conor Gallagher: [referring to the front door] Really? Was it open?
Faith Mattis: I knocked like three times.
Conor Gallagher: I didn't think I'd left it open.
Faith Mattis: I'm sorry. The washing machine guy let me in.
Conor Gallagher: Well, the washing machine guy had no business doing that.
Repairman: Hey, machine's been shot.
Conor Gallagher: Why do you think you're here - to answer the door?
Repairman: Shooting's not covered by the warranty, sir.

User Reviews

Standard video thriller without anything special to recommend it

Despite being fired for drug use and violent conduct, Conor Gallagher returns as a US Marshall to protect lawyer Faith Mattis when her life is threatened as part of some sort of bombing campaign against certain high-profile people. At first Gallagher tires of Mattis' attitude and accepts her threat of having him reassigned. But when he saves her life from an attack, he is kept on and finds himself rescuing her from a solider that has gone awol and thinks someone is trying to kill him. Starting to put the pieces together with her though, brings both of them into danger from powers that are more than just criminal.

The presence of Bill Pullman made me overlook the Monday night slot on channel 5 – usually a dumping ground for direct-to-video action movies with no names and no real value. When the film opens with a nicely washed out scene, I also ignored the clichés of the shoot-out and the predictable route it takes. However the next scene is 9 months later and Gallagher is "washed-up™" but brought back into the fold and it was here that I realised this was only going one way. The film keeps the actual "plot" at bay for the majority of the running time and instead just keeps producing narrow misses and bangs along with some vague attempts at characterisation. When the true plot actually comes out, it is pretty poor and unconvincing – with the ideas being as realistic as the shuttle backdrop.

The bangs are just wheeled out with little realism and they didn't engage me at all, while the characters aren't anything interesting or different. The film's mood swings around as well – at times it wants to be serious but other times we have joking in the face of danger; the swings don't fit together that well and gives the film an unsure feel. The cast are caught up in this and it shows. Pullman tries to do something serious with the role but also ends up being a clichéd quipping action star; he never fitted into the genre and I couldn't shake the feeling that he is really better than this. Olin also seems ill at ease in it and comes across like she is trying to do something with nothing (and achieving nothing). Feore is a "rent-a-baddie" here and adds little value, while Kent and Harris are just henchmen to be knocked off after a bit of stand-offing. Lea and Ironside are familiar faces but add nothing more than that.

Overall this is an average thriller at best. All the clichés are there and are delivered without imagination or effort by a cast who mostly deserve to be in better stuff than this. No better or worse than a lot of the video thrillers doing the rounds as television filler but that isn't any sort of recommendation.