Swordfish (2001)

2 out of 4

Starring: John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Vinnie Jones

Director: Dominic Sena

Time: 98 mins

Swordfish isn't the name of a new Jaws-like horror film; rather, it is the codename of a nasty sting operation designed to steal some $9.5 billion of hoarded funds from the US government. That's the premise of this high-tech and often stylish entrant in the summer movie stakes. Directed by Dominic Sena, who helmed the equally stylish Gone In Sixty Seconds last year, one could be forgiven for thinking one has walked into a Jerry Bruckheimer (Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, Coyote Ugly) film - he of the all-flash-and-no-substance-crowd-pleaser production line. While Swordfish does feature one cool explosion (filmed Matrix-style) and a couple of chase sequences, the action fails to generate any sizzle or thrills, and leaves one feeling unsatisfied.

Australian actor Hugh Jackman is Stanley Jobson, an infamous computer hacker so feared by authorities he has been barred from touching a computer again. Recently released from prison, he is recruited by the alluring Ginger (Halle Berry) to work for her boss, the elusive Gabriel Shear (John Travolta). Shear wants Jobson to create a program that will transfer billions of dollars in illicit government funds into Shear's bank account, all in the name of fighting modern-day terrorism. Struggling to regain custody of his daughter from his ex-wife, Jobson reluctantly agrees. When he is tailed by government agent Roberts (Don Cheadle), the man who arrested him for a previous crime, Jobson realises he is in too deep for his own liking.

Swordfish begins with an innovatively filmed explosion, where the point of view rotates in a circular fashion like the oft-imitated (most recently in Shrek) freeze-frame shots in The Matrix. The narrative then goes back in time several days, to relate the events that lead up to the explosion. I usually don't like narratives that go back in time, but Swordfish tells an interesting story and does so at a good pace. Where it falls over, however, is in the climactic action setpiece. After the initial setup, the audience could reasonably expect an exciting finale, but what transpires is flat and almost preposterous. Yes, the climax involves a bus that is hauled by a helicopter while dodging numerous city skyscrapers. But once the initial "wow" factor diminishes, what is left is nothing special at all. One of the protagonists even fires a bazooka at an escaping helicopter from the roof of an office tower, the safety of everyone else be damned. The resolution is unsatisfying, through a combination of a lack of excitement during the climax and the ultimate fate of some of the characters.

Director Sena employs many stylistic touches to keep our eyes glued to the screen. There is a perpetual yellow cast to the film, as well as the usual fast editing so typical of this genre. Everything is meant to exude a degree of "coolness", right down to the involvement of the "cool" John Travolta, who revisits the villainous but "cool" persona he created for Broken Arrow and Face/Off. Sena's previous work, Gone In Sixty Seconds, did provide a level of fun and kineticism that is all but absent in Swordfish, which is a shame as the first half is actually quite involving. Also (and correct me if I'm wrong), while I don't profess to know much about encryption or anything like that, the use of 128-bit encoding seems weak to me, especially for government security systems. And I wish all computer programs looked as slick as those employed in this film (and countless others as well).

Swordfish has a pretty interesting cast. As mentioned previously, Travolta is in his "cool villain" mode, even going so far as to sport a little wispy beard. Nothing in the film is a stretch for Mr Travolta, and his character is (perhaps deliberately) devoid of history, but he still commands one's attention, nonetheless. Jackman, coming off his breakout role as Wolverine in X-Men, is not as charismatic here, but he does a passable American accent. His X-Men colleague Berry is underused, except for a gratuitous topless scene which lasts all of two seconds. Cheadle (The Family Man, Traffic) is fine in his limited role, and Briton Vinnie Jones backs up from Gone In Sixty Seconds with another portrayal of an enforcer.

Swordfish is typical of the loud, fast, and flashy action movies that populate multiplexes during the hot summer months. It is, unfortunately, not one of the better ones. A relatively interesting story is marred by a lifeless finish and an overabundance of style. Let's hope the rest of the summer's entries show a bit more oomph.

(c) Joe Wong (10 June 2001)