Sword Fish (English) Review

The king of cool strikes again. And this time he's so hot, you better put your glares on. Swordfish is here, bringing with it a goody bag of bullets, ripped car tires and enough pyrotechnics to give Diwali a complex.

'Swordfish' is no 'Michael', and neither is Travolta, who plays the rather un-angelic Gabriel Shears, a man possessed by greed to steal a few billion in booty. Where did the booty come from? It's a whole big deal of government money lying idle, and from the looks of the movie, everybody seems to have forgotten about it. Just how anyone can forget such a humongous mass of mammon is above and beyond me, but anyway, Shears is a charismatic spy who wants to get his paws on the goldmine. So he sets about getting guys who can assist him.

The best man for the job is Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman), a brilliant computer hacker who's down and absolutely out on his luck. Fresh out of the cooler, he has a family life nobody can rave about, and is desperate to get custody of his young daughter. And once made an offer by the sexy 'ready to undress' Halle Berry, he figures that this might just be the way to get his life zooming into hyper drive.

Thus, the team consisting of Jackman, Halle Berry and Travolta sets about to steal a few pennies from the government, only that there is much more evil lurking underneath the surface. Travolta and his 'Operation Swordfish' are not simple-looking evil but are Satanic in proportion, and I suggest you go and watch the movie to dig what I am harping about.

The movie per se is out-and-out escapism. With stunts that call for your jaws to be scraped off the floor at regular intervals, it's one film where popcorn sales are bound to do well. There are hypercool chases involving all forms of transportation. Cars, buses, chopper... you name it, and they chase it. It's fab watching Travolta right in his element, dripping sarcasm at times and oozing sensuality at all. He seems to be the textbook for actors on how to play a baddie.

Halle Berry is great and looks pretty good in various shades of undress. Hugh Jackman is surprisingly agreeable, and manages to hold onto his own amongst all the chaos, clamor and explosions. The action is great and has people blowing up, things blowing up and other things threatening to blow up all over the place. I thought I saw the 'Die Hard' team taking notes during the movie.

The script seems to have been written at midnight, with a spurt of inspiration to help. A good effort, but unfortunately the whole 'father wanting to get daughter' thing has been flogged through several degrees in all movies. Give it a rest, guys, and bring on the mindless action. You don't have to pander to our emotional voids.

Anyways, if you have a penchant for pyrotechnics and don't mind giving up an hour or two of fresh air, then this a great flick. Eye candy all the way, this is one film where you can safely leave your brains behind.