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The Detonator [2006]
![The Detonator [2006]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MPubcePdL._SL160_.jpg)
RRP: £12.99
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OK DTV fodder from Snipes...
Review date: 2008-08-21 Rating: 6 out of 10
This is OK Straight To Video hokum from Snipes...
Here he's (as always) a CIA agent protecting a witness while trashing half of Romania. But is there a mole in the organisation plotting to bring him down...? (I added that bit on, but you won't really care)
Filmed in Eastern Europe with the usual Andrew Stevens/Sony Home Ent protagonists and devices (including William Hope), it's an alright watch once brain is removed and placed in storage jar...
Go with "7 Seconds" or "The Marksman" for better 'bang for your Snipes-DTV buck' as it's a tad slow in places...
OK...
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Reviews
THE FATE OF THOUSANDS IS IN THEIR HANDS
Review date: 2007-08-16 Rating: 6 out of 10
There was a time when Wesley Snipes WAS action. Blade, Passenger 57, Boiling Point, Demolition Man...now he seems to be the king of straight to DVD and I hadn't seen him in action in awhile so I decided to go with The Detonator. In all fairness Snipes is not the problem. He stills kicks some serious ass and he can actually act which is a plus for an action star but the story was just bogged down with non-sensical and confusing plot and characters. The film falls victim to a common error committed by writer Martin Wheeler who is probably just an action film fan boy who thinks he can write his own. He's slapped together a film completely neglected plot holes, sense of style or even fitting together and just let it fly. Action films don't have to be realistic but they have to have a basis in reality so that the audience will ignore the lack of realism (ie: Transporter 2)
Wesley Snipes plays scorned Government agent Sonni Griffith who is wanted back in the U.S. for murdered a mobster and yet apparently is allowed to roam Europe on assignment...yeeeah. He is after a big gun runner until his cover is blown by a mysterious phone caller. Now he has to escort a protected witness back to the U.S. Snipes is good, there is nothing wrong with his performance. His martial arts is wicked, and his gun play is superb, the man could still be an action superstar but the plot and story stinks. Italian actress Silvia Colloca plays the protected witness, Nadia Cominski who despite a rather poorly slapped together Russian accent does a decent job. She's tough, and her and Snipes have great chemistry although the I hate you, I love you routine is a little forced at times. Matthew Leitch gives a stand out performance as head bad guy Dimitru (misspelled Dimitri on IMDb.) For some reason I wanted his name to be Dimitri because that's the common name but no it was "u." Anyways Leitch gives a really great performance as a blood thirsty angry vicious killer/hit-man for a much larger mobster. Although Leitch and Snipes don't actually go head to head that often they are great adversaries and in a weak story such as this it would have easy for the bad guy to be a real pansy but instead he gives a terrific performance. William Hope plays brutally vicious mobster Michael Shepard. Seeing him in the same shot playing with children and then threatening and murdering other people is disturbing and he is a great mobster. He's mostly a straight to video kind of guy but he is a great actor and does a good job playing the bad guy. Warren Derosa plays fellow cop Mitchel who never quite fits in with the cast especially Snipes. He doesn't have the acting chops to fit in and he really just always looks like a schmuck. Deciding whether he is the one working against them never enters the mind because his character is boring and mostly useless.
With a much, MUCH stronger screenwriter The Detonator might have been able to fly but because of the completely lost script the film is pretty much ruined. There are a few neat action sequences, and the story is watchable but there is just far too many plot holes, things that are completely not necessary and characters that don't fit in. Maybe there are fans of Wesley Snipes that still hold it out for a triumphant return to theater but I can tell you this won't help. Wait for this one to show where it belongs...on cable...5/10
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Matthew Leitch
Silvia Colloca
Wesley Snipes
William Hope
Tim Dutton
Creators:
Wesley Snipes (Primary Contributor)
Silvia Colloca (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
EAN: 5035822126831
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL,
Release date: 2006-09-18
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 96 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2006
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: Hindi (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Arabic (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Dubbed)