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Overall Rating : 6/10
Directed By : Josef Rusnak
Wesley Snipes (Blade)
Lena Headey (300)
Charles Dance (Last Action Hero)
Eliza Bennett (Nanny McPhee)
Supplied By : Sony Pictures
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : June. 19, 2007
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| PLOT Retired marksman James Dial lives a secluded lifeon his ranch in Montana. Haunted by his failure to exterminate one of the world’s most notorious terrorists, he is approached by his old employers to finish the job in London, where the terrorist leader has been captured and is under heavy protection. What would be a routine mission for the sniper turns into a nightmare as Dial is forced into hiding and relentlessly pursued by the British police and their lead investigator, Windsor. But when Dial is framed for Windsor’s murder, he begins to realize that he has been seriously double-crossed. His only hope is a 12-year-old girl whom Dial reluctantly befriends as he desperately searches to find the killer and the truth behind his betrayal. |
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| THE REVIEW In THE CONTRACTOR, James Dial, a man once known as one of the CIA's best marksmen, now lives a life of secrecy on his Montana ranch after his retirement. His peaceful life in the mountains is suddenly goes interrupted when the CIA offer him the opportunity to take down one of the world's biggest terrorists that he once failed to capture. Dial must then travel to the UK where Jahar has now been captured by the British government and is being held under their protection. The assassination goes as planned but it would later end with Dial going into hiding after the British Police pursue him for the shooting. But that's not all, it seems that for some reason his own team has double crossed him as well, and to make matters worse they later try to frame the shooting death, of British lead investigator Windsor on Dial. With nowhere to run from the law, Dial befriends a young girl name Emily, in which she helps him allude cops while he searches for answers. Action stars, they all do it, they make a few blockbuster action films that make a name for themselves, and later on down the line make films which lesser the budget lesser the quality. Take Steven Seagal, he had hit's with the likes of UNDER SIEGE and MARKED FOR DEATH, and slowly declined into a low budget staple. He releases now, dozens and dozens of these films and sure enough the die hard fans eat them up - but to tell you the truth, I haven't seen a good one in awhile. Here in THE CONTRACTOR, film star Wesley Snipes is in a said low budget flick, and it isn't his first, he's also had a few of those "not very memorable" films as well. Before seeing this one, I expected one of the same slow paced, terrible acted thrillers that Direct-to-video is accustomed to getting these days, what I got was really surprising. First off, the films sub-plot, with Dial befriending the 12 year old girl, right from the start, reminds my of the film LEON : THE PROFESSIONAL. In both films, a young girl befriends a sniper whom is hiding out, ultimately forming a unique bond with them in the end. In THE CONTRACTOR, it is what keeps this film on track. THE CONTACTOR, is an action/suspense thriller, that on a lower budget keeps the pace steady not making it too dull. The action scenes are what one would call simplistic, but to me, that makes them realistic above all else - surely there are no DIE HARD like stunts or explosions, due to not having the budget to do so,(although i'm sure they would've liked to have had some) but it does it's job in delivering a straight forward story, that is very clear, without trying to confuse us too much. What impressed me most about THE CONTACTOR is indeed the acting. Sure, you can make a film these days at all most any budget, but the one thing that will always make or break your film, no matter what it is, it the acting. To me the acting was great here, and almost to the level of a theatrical film, especially by Snipes(whom seems genuinely a part of the role) and young Eliza Bennett as Emily. As I said, I believe that Emily and Dial's relationship, although, not the main part of the story, was definitely the core and brought out the character that is James Dial, we got to know him, and it was through this relationship that we do. Overall, I wasn't expecting much, in fact before watching the film I was expecting to give this a negative review. But I guess, such as all things, you should never pre-judge, because it turns out that this film has a lot more story then you initially would think. The plot was well maintained, the acting was up to par more times than not, I really enjoyed this action/suspense film.. |
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| GORE
METER 2/10 Various gunshots and a wooden stick to the face, is all that could be mentioned, certainly not gory. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 4.5/10 The score was ok, upbeat suspenseful tracks play in the background, there are also some hard rock found in the soundtrack at one point. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM THE CONTRACTOR is a very good direct-to-video film, and that's something that can't always be said. As I said, I enjoyed it a lot better than I expected, as most direct-to-video action flicks bore me easily, however THE CONTRACTOR interested me. I recommend! This DVD will be released on July 10, 2007 |
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