An average movie

For Paul Verhoeven, it was his 3rd critical flop in a row and it was basically the end of his career in the US. Honestly, even though it seems to be considered as one of his weakest movies, I don't think it is really so bad actually. Indeed, it is basically a very dark version of this famous story with some awesome special effects, even for today's standards. As usual with this director, the whole thing was pretty violent and (very) sleazy, and at some moments, it almost felt like some pretty neat introduction to some super villain. Unfortunately, I must admit it, the dialogues were terribly cheesy and, even though the cast was decent (Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Shue, Joshn Brolin), the acting was pretty average. Above all, the story was just pretty weak, especially during the ending which seemed to come out from some very average slasher flick. Honestly, while watching it, I couldn't help thinking that Verhoeven didn't care much about this project and didn't really try to exploit the very interesting ideas displayed in this story. And, indeed, later on during his career, Verhoeven did admit that got involved in this project because it was the only film he could get off the ground at the time. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is actually a decent flick and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Paul Verhoeven's work.

5/10