Three out of
Five stars
Running time:
93 mins
Smartly directed adventure flick with a great cast and exciting action sequences, although Rider's emotionless personality is hard to engage with.
What's it all about?
When teenager Alex Rider's (newcomer Alex Pettyfer) bank manager
uncle (Ewan McGregor) is killed in a car crash, it soon becomes clear that he was secretly a James Bond-alike superspy. Moreover, what Alex thought were his hobbies (scuba diving, sharpshooting, martial arts) were actually his uncle's way of grooming him for superspydom.
Recruited by Mr Blunt (Bill Nighy) of MI6 and armed with a host of specially designed gadgets, Alex finds himself thrust into a top secret mission, in which he battles billionaire Darrius Sayle (Mickey
Rourke) and his deadly Stormbreaker virus.
The Good
The colourful cast have a lot of fun with their slightly cartoonish roles, particularly Bill Nighy and Missi Pyle as Sayle's henchwoman.
Rourke makes an effective villain and there's also strong support from Alicia Silverstone (as Alex's capable nanny, the lucky blighter) as well as amusing cameos from the likes of Stephen Fry (playing a Q type character with his HQ in Hamley's basement) and Robbie Coltrane as a corpulent Prime Minister.
The action sequences are pretty impressive and for once the fast-paced editing actually allows you to see what's happening. The editing is also amusingly creative in places, such as a during a fight scene that plays out alongside cartoon violence on TV.
The Bad
Although the film-makers have clearly stretched their budget to breaking point, all the money has been spent on the action sequences, meaning that the rest of the film has the distinct look of a low budget British production about it.
Similarly, Alex Pettyfer is undeniably good-looking, but the script doesn't give his character much in the way of a personality and he's quite hard to warm to as a result.
Worth seeing?
Essentially a British version of the underrated Agent Cody Banks, only with less wit and personality. Worth seeing though.