24 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
24 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
1990s would remembered as the era of binary movie events in hollywood - two movies dealing with the same subject , or , to be precise , same " high concept " .
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in summer 1994 , that " high concept " was " mad bomber action thriller " .
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in few weeks , " thrillride of the summer " actionfest speed was followed by rather action thriller blown away , so disappointing that most of the people these days associate the title with the 1992 thriller in which nicole eggert did few nude scenes .
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the movie begins in the prison in northern ireland , where gaerity ( tommy lee jones ) , ira terrorist with the great talent to make lethal explosive devices from almost any material , escapes from prison .
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he comes to boston , where he accidentally notices jimmy dove ( jeff bridges ) , dedicated bomb disposal expert within boston police .
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few people except gaerity know the dove's violent past , when he used to be ira terrorist before becoming sick with violence , betraying gaerity and emigrating to america where he changed the name and started using his experience for good purpose .
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gaerity holds dove personally responsible for his captivity and begins the campaign of bombing terror , directed specifically at dove's colleagues , friends and relatives .
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dove , who is just going to retire and start family , now must confront the mad bomber .
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while speed doesn't even try to bother with plot and characters , using them only as an excuse for long and spectacular action scenes , blown away tries to be more conventional and provide the action with some back story .
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and that is the main reason why it is inferior to speed .
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badly written plot and badly written characters are sometimes worse than no plot and no characters at all .
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screenplay by john bateer and john rice , barely touches the complicated issues of northern ireland , using the tragedy only as the cheap backstory for even cheaper drama .
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the plot is , of course , full of implausibilities .
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the main one is the fact that movie fails to explain how the single individual , no matter how brilliant he is , can produce thousands of deadly devices and hold entire city at bay .
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those questions , same as in the case of speed , could be forgotten while the action goes on , but the pauses between action scenes are filled with cliched and predictable situation that should provide some background to the characters .
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because of them , movie seems a little bit too long , and boring at times .
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the most annoying element of the film , however , is tommy lee jones in the role of mad bomber .
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his acting is so over-the-top that potentially fascinating villain turns into pathetic caricature of himself .
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this role is in painful contrast with the strong performance given by that same actor in fugitive .
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the film have few bright points , though .
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some of the action scenes are fine , which should be credited to director stephen hopkins ( predator ii , judgement night ) .
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and forrest whitaker really shines in minor role of dove's colleague .
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but , all in all , blown away is a film that was justifiably shadowed by its more famous , yet hardly unforgettable competitor .
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