Gabriel (John Travolta) is an ultra-slick, suave antiterrorist who fights terrorism with terrorism. To fund his next venture he recruits a ’retired’ computer hacker (Hugh Jackman) to transfer a $9.5 billion government slush fund into a cluster of secret accounts. Ginger (Halle Berry) is the bait who lures Jackman into the scheme. Don Cheadle is an FBI agent hot on their tails and just top remind us that we are watching a Hollywood movie the subplot turns Jackman’s daughter into an innocent bargaining chip. How cliched!
Director Dominic Sena must have spent a substantial portion of the $80 million of Joel Silver and friend’s money on the 360-degree pan as a robbery hostage is blown to bits by a bomb that pelts a surrounding SWAT squad with deadly ball bearings. Good effects, but Matrix came out 2 years before that. Silver loves to repeat his tricks.
The entire movie then works on a flashback till we arrive back to the 360-degree blow-up and then a hostage transport bus is airlifted in the film’s ’is-there-anything-else-on-HBO’ climax.
Whether Swordfish will hold your rapt attention or put you to sleep all depends on one thing. Do you like either John Travolta or Hugh Jackman? If you do, then you will probably enjoy this gorefest cause this movie works in some ways because of the enigmatic Travolta (he is very good in another of his baddie movies collection). His opening monologue is superb and is a clue as to how things will proceed. Jackman has got good screen presence and justifies his role as a desperate father who wants his child from his ex-wife. Halle is wasted in he role and was apparently well paid to bare her breasts and even if Berry’s fans enjoy a cheap drool at the actress’s expense, her brief topless scene doesn’t augur well for her supposedly ’Oscar’ worthy talent. Don Cheadle must have shot his parts in a day or two while dropping his kids off to school.
Another thing that really works for the movie is the superb soundtrack from the biggest DJ the world has known - Paul Oakenfold. It has some good techno #s with some having a good garage rock beat to it. Buy the album. Don’t pirate it.
All this beng said, this movie can be watched on Cable/Pay TV when aired. But don’t reset your calendar for it.