Truly Dreadful Film

Best movie of this year hands down!

A Masterpiece!

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

In this second slate of films from the BMW "The Hire" series of shorts, the Driver finds himself delivering a ransom to a kidnapper. When it all gets weird he finds himself in a race across town to get to the hostage before she dies.I had high hopes for this short film mainly because it was directed by John Woo – a name high on the list if you're asked to get a high-profile director to deliver a glossy action sequence that makes your car look awesome but also provides some Hollywood thrills. In this regard the film is actually OK because the half of the film that is a race across a city being pursued by police is quite glossy and, while not heart-pumping, at least looks good and has good motion as an effective soundtrack helps. Oddly it does feel a little lacking in ambition and the impacts seem a little tame, but it is still OK. The bigger problem is the other 50% of the running time. The very early sequences have mystery to them and there is an unhinged villain in the traditions of Hollywood, but quickly the mystery gives way to plot holes.The Driver seems to know where to head with very little information; the police gives chase of the "stolen" car even though it is the Driver's car and even though law enforcement are involved in the job and could call them off; the Driver appears to get down off a bridge in about a second – and so on. None of them are massive problems, but many of them could have been avoided by a line of dialogue, a slight change of location or some other device just to block the hole – instead the holes are just mostly ignored and it did sort of distract from the action to be thinking "hang on a second, how does...what, I..." and so on. The conclusion to the short is also a bit cryptic (being kind) or confusing (being honest) and, while I appreciate them trying to make a story here, I didn't think it worked and would have preferred a conclusion that fitted with the urgent, action side of the film rather than a side of the film that isn't there in the first place.Overall a solid little short film thanks to the slick car action – shame that this only makes up less than half of the running time and, while I appreciate what they tried to do with the other half (condensing a film down to 7 minutes) it didn't work and only produced empty narrative and plot holes galore.

Clive Owen plays as a driver who has only a short limit of time to rescue a girl trapped inside the boot of a car at the water's edge and is only able to communicate with her by using his mobile phone. This is possibly the longest ad I've ever seen and is also directed by the fantastic John Woo. HOSTAGE (2002) been given 4/10 because it's not really that thrilling or action packed and has unfortunately very little of John Woo's directing style. Although it's an ad, Clive Owen does give a pretty good performance.This ad is not recommended, especially for the people who are fans of Woo.

Do not watch any of these films if you are expecting intricate plot or thought-provoking messages or deep characters. If you want a guy driving the BMW du jour around really fast, by all means watch this series of shorts.In Hostage, the BMW du jour is the Z4. The chase is classic John Woo material, and the plot is simply stuck onto it, almost as an afterthought. That doesn't really matter, though. You can still enjoy it. It is a very good car chase.In fact, it's fair to say this is not so much a short film as a very long BMW commercial. It works very well. I wanted to buy a Z4 after watching it, so I could drive around like a psycho. The movie makes it look fun, and it makes you have fun while watching it.

In a world where advertising is rammed down your neck 24/7 bmw have seen the light.they increased their reputation by becoming the bond car and now have used this short film/ad as the ultimate in product placement.If all ads could be like this i would'nt channel surf in the ad breaks.