Absolutely Fantastic

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

BAD COMPANY stars Anthony Hopkins (born December 31, 1937, in Margam, Wales), an actor of some domestic acclaim. It also stars Chris Rock. Rocky is good when he is bad and good when he is good, so no point in dwelling on him. It's worth watching this movie just to see him. I found the film a little too dark and a little too slow as it moves to what seems like an inevitable bitter end. I love the fisticuffs back and forth.I award it a rating of 7 out of 10. As is often the case with action movies, from an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose. See it.

I have say firstly that I never would have thought of Sir Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock in a film together, but, it happened, from director Joel Schumacher (Batman Forever, Phone Booth). Basically, while working with him, Officer Oakes (Hopkins) witnesses Harvard educated African American CIA agent Kevin Pope (Rock) killed during an operation. The agency need to finish a project that he was working on, so they recruit his twin brother, street-wise hustler Jake Hayes (Rock again) to do the job. Oakes trains Jake, alias Michael Turner, how to act and talk like his brother, his interests, his social life, and ultimately his lifestyle, ready to face the terrorists, led by Adrik Vas (Fargo's Peter Stormare). After a while, it was obvious the bad guys would discover Jake's real identity, so they kidnap his girlfriend/fiancé Julie (The Last King of Scotland's Kerry Washington) to get what they want, otherwise they set off a nuclear weapon. Also starring Gabriel Macht as Agent Seale, John Slattery as Roland Yates, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon as Nicole, Matthew Marsh as Dragan Adjanic and Brooke Smith as Agent Swanson. Hopkins and Rock do make a good buddy duo, Rock does lack a little bit of impact, but Hopkins is great as the dry witted agent, and there are some great chase and gun play sequences. Good!

Officer Seale (Gabriel Macht) is handsome, brave, intelligent, an ace biker, skilled in gun duels and at dodging bullets, and can even survive being shot in the back at close range. He's great! Unfortunately, he's not the focus of the film. That is shared by street-wise scalp Jake (an irritating Chris Rock who is followed everywhere by blaring rap music) who has to pretend to be his undercover CIA agent brother and dull (not to mention elderly and overweight) Officer Oakes (an unconvincing Anthony Hopkins sleeping through his lines) who has to train Jake to save the world from a nuclear bomb.Bad Company starts with a clichéd poetic action scene in which Kevin Pope is killed. Enter exposition overload to explain who Jake is and why he has to cover for Kevin. This gets all the information across in a short space, but is so obvious and clumsy, only a child wouldn't be irritated. However, the plot itself is pleasingly straight-forward and sense-making, which isn't often the case in action films, but it does all rest on how lucky the CIA are that Jake is basically a receptive genius. But it can't be that hard for Jake to pretend to be Kevin, since Rock's Kevin acting involves using a quiet monotone and nothing else. This touches on a vague plot hole of the film, in that why does the CIA bother training Jake to act like Kevin, and then training him to act like Kevin acting like Michael Turner (Kevin's alias)? Why not go straight from Jake to Michael, especially since they are not supposed to give Jake any extraneous information that could pop out at the wrong time? Other plot holes include why in the lengthy car chase in which baddies want the bomb that Jake and Oakes have, do they not kill Jake and Oakes when they get the bomb, and undercover agents like Oakes probably shouldn't run around as CIA officers in the middle of undercover operations. Also, there is something extremely tacky about the style in which the diffusing the bomb scene is edited, with lots of random close ups.All that aside, this is an inoffensive action film, fine for passing the time, although thanks to the two flat leads, probably not one to seek out.

I enjoyed it and in the end that's what counts. Whenever I write one of these it is to give people an idea of what I thought of the film in question. Not to tell them what they should think. I often get the impression a film needs to meet so many artistic, filmographic and whatever other criteria before I am allowed to enjoy it. Or so I have to believe from some of the reviews about Bad Company. If you are going to watch a film then read the back cover, do some internet research, read some magazines or ask your buddies and you will find out what a film is about. Then decide if you want to watch it or not. And then accept it for what it is without feeling the need to preach about it. I know this sounds like a rant but it isn't. It is merely my opinion and that's all it is worth. I did the research, decided I wanted to watch it tonight, did so and enjoyed it. Because I took it in at face value. I was entertained by Rock and Hopkins, the story and the action. It is fiction, sells itself as that and delivers. If you like either actor and want some light action entertainment for 2 hours, Bad Company will not disappoint. It didn't for me anyway.