ROB COHEN

Bil’s rating (out of 5):   BB. 

USA, 2002.  Revolution Studios, Original Film.  Screenplay by Rich Wilkes.  Cinematography by Dean Semler.  Produced by Neal H. Moritz.  Music by Randy Edelman.  Production Design by Gavin Bocquet.  Costume Design by Sanja Milkovic Hays.  Film Editing by Chris Lebenzon, Joel Negron, Paul Rubell.  

Vin Diesel is the superspy for the new millennium: big muscles, big guns, and not one intelligible word issuing forth from his mouth. Imagine the dopiness of Stallone but without the charming wit that even Sly managed to have every once in a while. Diesel plays a thrill-seeking criminal who is given the chance to avoid a jail sentence by performing a task for the operative (Samuel L. Jackson) of a CIA-like government organization. His job is to infiltrate the underworld of a car thief long suspected of being involved in the creation of biological warfare. Diesel does his job, threatening to expose himself when he gets close to Alpha Villain’s main gal (Asia Argento) and then endangering her safety. Is there anything in this story that hasn’t been seen before? I dare you to be taken by surprise for a single moment. Diesel is a powerful presence but not a good enough actor to overcome terrible dialogue, and the ridiculous Bond-like stunts are so unbelievable only because they don’t have the self-effacing wit that the British spy thrillers were so saturated in.