Swordfish
(2001)
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Star John Travolta revisits the grinning villain territory he explored in BROKEN ARROW and FACE/OFF with this stylish, supercharged techno-thriller. He plays Gabriel, a charismatic, fast-living mystery man who, with help from his right-hand woman, Ginger (Halle Berry), recruits ex-con and former master hacker Stan (Hugh Jackman) to aid in a plan to steal billions from a secret government bank account. Stan reluctantly agrees to help in order to finance the legal battle for custody of his young daughter (Camryn Grimes). Meanwhile an FBI computer crimes specialist (Don Cheadle) is determined to find out what's about to go down, and plans to use Stan to find out. |
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This is the film for which female lead Halle Berry was reportedly offered an extra $500,000 (on top of her $2 million fee) to bare her breasts. Well, she does, and it's all over very quickly, and if anyone is tempted to watch for that reason alone, more fool them. Swordfish is a glossy, expensive computer-heist thriller that amounts to very little behind all the fireworks. If you've seen the trailer, you've seen the film, as it gives away the ending and shows part of what industry types call the “money shot” — a technically brilliant 360-degree explosion that will act as director Dominic Sena's calling card. He's so proud of it, in fact, he gives it to us twice, such is the superficial nature of this film. The only real saving grace is Hugh Jackman's performance as the cool super-hacker hired by counter-terrorist John Travolta to help steal $9.5 billion. Travolta is always watchable — and gets the best speech (about the film Dog Day Afternoon) from Skip Woods's Tarantino-indebted script — but you can't help thinking this is the least anyone could do with an $80-million budget: a heist, some hostages, a lot of flashy, unrealistic computer hacking, and an actress in her underwear.