|
|
REVIEWS PREVIEWS
Agent Cody Banks
TV show Malcolm in the Middle’s Frankie Muniz turns James Bond in the teen spy flick Agent Cody Banks. After the enormous success of the two Spy Kids movies, it was inevitable that Hollywood would make another teen spy film. While Bond is declaring he will Die Another Day, MGM hopes to spawn a franchise with Banks movies and paraphernalia.
Muniz plays Banks, a 15-year-old suburban kid who is part of a secret teen CIA programme. He is sent to pose as a prep student to befriend classmate Natalie Connors (Hilary Duff), daughter of a scientist who is unknowingly developing a fleet of deadly ‘nanobots’ for the evil organization ERIS.
Similar to the television show Alias, the protagonist is a typical down-to-earth, all-American teenager with none of the urbane sophistication of Bond. In fact, in a twist, Banks is tongue-tied around girls!
There are some cool gadgets (including a versatile BMW skateboard and X-ray glasses), but unfortunately, Banks does not have the fun and charm of the Spy Kids movies, nor the suavity or polish of Bond. Instead, the silly story and cheesy dialogue prevent Banks from becoming a bankable project.—-T. U. Dawood
.jpg)
Anatomy
A prestigious medical institution is killing people and dissecting them so that its research is not hindered by a lack of ‘specimens.’ And to add spice to the proceedings, the victim is first paralyzed by injecting a serum into his veins, and while he’s still conscious, the operation is carried out in front of his eyes! But it’s not that gross. We’ve seen much worse in American flicks (this one’s German). The fact that it’s dubbed in English means you won’t have to worry about trying to catch up with the subtitles.
It’s a B-grade horror flick, but there are glimpses that prove it could have been a first rate movie. The direction is pretty slick, especially the use of innovative swirling camera angles. The shock and surprise elements are deftly put together and the acting is decent as well. But all these positive attributes don’t amount to much because of a lousy script. The first half of the movie goes by smoothly; it’s during the latter half that you realize it’s just another slasher flick.
One is unlikely to find this movie in a video shop. Your best bet is any shop which sells those Rs25-a-piece CDs where it’s available in the vcd/mp3/dvd format with the name of Hollow Man 2. The only problem is that the original length of the movie is 100 minutes, while 23 minutes have been chopped off from this version. —Saqib Khan
The Real Cancun
The preview of the movie stated “No actors, no script, no story.” Another feature of The Real Cancun which its preview should have mentioned is that it makes “No sense.” The creators of MTV’s The Real World decided to cast ‘real’ college students in a movie where the youngsters don’t do much more than drink, party and take part in bare body contests. Those who have no objections to such content may enjoy this flick, but its box office performance clearly shows that not many people are interested in watching this sort of movie.
The plot revolves around a group of 16 youngsters who go on spring break to Cancun, Mexico. There they stay at a place in front of the beach where they party day and night and within one week, there occur a number of love affairs and break-ups.
Till the end, there doesn’t seem to be much progress in the story. Shot in a short span of time, the movie seems to be rushed and needs better editing. The only novelty in the film is that it is not a typical, formulaic flick and actually makes viewers laugh in some of the sequences. —Azeem Haider
|
|
|
