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Run of the
mill comedy-thriller which offers no surprises but passes the time
perfectly well.
Nigel Bell
In an age of
film where there has to be a twist in the tale, Bad Company
is something of a surprise.
What you see
is what you get. The good guys are good, the bad bad. That's it
- apart from a race against time to stop New York blowing up.
The Plot
Kevin Pope (Rock) is a sophisticated CIA agent working with
Gaylord Oakes (Hopkins) to buy a nuclear bomb from some dodgy Eastern
Europeans.
Unbeknown to
them, a third party also wants the device. They follow and kill
Pope putting the whole operation in jeopardy.
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| One day
people will stop calling me the next Eddie Murphy |
Oakes has nine
days to find a Pope lookalike to conclude a deal.
Luckily, he
had a brother, Jake Hayes (the twins were separated at birth).
Sadly, Jake
is a street wise hustler, not exactly CIA material.
It's up to Hopkins
to whip him into shape in order to save the world.
The verdict
Bad Company is the type of film which will run in the
cinemas for a couple of weeks then do well on video rental.
There's nothing
special about it but that's not to say it's a waste of time.
It's entertainment
and if you like jokes, chase sequences and a few explosions you
won't be disappointed.
The surprising
thing is there are no twists. You know who the bad guys are and
there's no mole in the CIA giving the game away.
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| It'll pay
the rent until Red Dragon comes out |
Which sets matters
up for a sparring duel between the lead characters.
That's where
the film is let down. Hopkins is going through the motions. There's
little chemistry between him and Rock.
Indeed there
are unintentional laughs when you see the way Sir Anthony struggles
to keep up with the other CIA operatives in the chase sequences.
Plenty of strategic editing.
Rock himself
is fine in the duel personality of sophisticated man and streetwise
hustler, although far more comfortable in the latter.
The dialogue
is definitely aimed at a younger audience. There's a great scene
where Rock is trying to stall the villains while checking out the
nuclear bomb.
He pretends
to be following a number of procedures as devised by Dr Dre and
colleagues from the Wu-Tang Clan.
Similarly, on
hearing his long lost brother served in the naval academy his quip
is "what did he serve - lunch?"
Bad Company
outstays its welcome and, while Prague is a beautiful city, I'm
getting a bit fed up seeing it in movie after movie.
Decent entertainment
but nothing special.
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