Simply Perfect

Sadly Over-hyped

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"Hamilton: Men inte om det gäller din dotter" tells the story of a Swedish agent whose goddaughter gets kidnapped by islamic terrorists and who has to fight several forces nearly alone in order to save her from the threat.First of all, the movie looks very clean. You can see that it had some budget and that the money was used very professionally in order to make it look like a blockbuster. I also like how different agencies are involved and not always in a positive way. The intrigues and politics the film depicts are clearly its strong parts in my opinion, however implausible they might be. What I really don't like is the character itself. You should think that the times for incredibly tough guys who can fight whole armies with a spoon and show no emotions are over by now and they really should be. This character is just ridiculous. If you don't even blink an eye when your goddaughter is kidnapped that's not as much a sign of a tough man than it is a sign of an antisocial disorder.All in all this is macho entertainment that convinces with a clever background story but delivers horrible character development. With a little more love for the people depicted, this could have been a far better movie.

HAMILTON: BUT NOT IF IT CONCERNS YOUR DAUGHTER is a Swedish thriller, based on a popular novel character, and a follow-up to HAMILTON: IN THE INTEREST OF THE NATION. This is a lesser sequel in every respect, with a story that somehow manages to be more simplified and more complex at the same time; as well as that, it's not particularly suspenseful as a movie. Watching this you realise just how good the original film was.Still, it's not all bad, and HAMILTON 2 certainly isn't a poor film by any means. The tale of international terrorism and political machinations is a well-written one, so it's just a shame than the central thriller plot is so basic. Hamilton goes around and questions suspects and then embarks on a mission to rescue his kidnapped goddaughter. That's all there is to it, and the ending in particular is oddly anti-climatic, leaving you wondering 'is that it?' Fans will find the production values remain strong after the first movie, and the acting is also of a superior quality. I wouldn't have minded the basic storyline had it propped up some strong action scenes, but the action is very limited here and not particularly well shot by director Tobias Falk, who previously directed some BATTLE FRONT video games. However, Mikael Persbrandt is an engaging and charismatic screen presence, so it's a pity he doesn't have as much to get his teeth into as he did in the last film. Seba Mubarak also returns in support, and Frida Hallgren does good work as the crusading light. Watch out for cameoing British stars Steven Waddington, David Rintoul, and Cal MacAninch.

But still a good movie nevertheless. It's just that the first movie set a higher standard and of course the sequel was going to be compared to that. Which also means, that the third movie (due in 2014 if all goes along nicely), will have a lesser burden to carry. Having said that, there is no need to watch the first movie to understand this one. Though if you're thinking about missing out on one of the movies, it'd be wise to watch the other one instead.Hamilton reprises his role (not alone, there is other characters that are familiar from the first movie, without connecting them too much) and he does a good job. There's conspiracy, thrill and action in this movie and you will be entertained.

I consider myself a Hamilton fan. I've read every book, watched every movie and TV series. Some TV/movie adaptations have been good, others not so much, but up until the last two movies they stuck to the story and general feel of the books. Now, the last one I can see why they changed. There's no Soviet Union any more, so a lot of adaptation had to be done to bring it into the modern world. That excuses some of the choices made by the directors. On this one, they have nothing to hide behind. The book is Hamilton's most recent appearance, and it's written in our current world setting. It's not even a Hamilton book, the main characters are the Tanguy family. ... so imagine my surprise when I see Pierre Tanguy isn't even in the picture at first. What I saw as a main component of the book, aging warriors dusting off their old gear for one last run. It even gave the book it's title, how they were all done with that life, done with fighting and killing, "But Not If It Concerns Your Daughter". Even Hamilton himself struggles with the decision to go in the book.That's only the most glaring omission, but that alone should be enough to get someone fired. If the Hamilton angle had been removed, it would have been an OK Friday night thriller. Maybe not in the cinema, but then again I don't think it was released for cinema here in Norway. I found the movie in the cheap bins at Europris (Norwegian low-price store, sort of a mini-Walmart) without even having heard they were making it.There's another one in production too I see. Let's hope they don't screw up the next one as badly as this. I suspect they will though, to make an action out of what should be a tense thriller.