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View Full Version : The Sentinel - Review Thread


quiksilver022
04-20-2006, 11:43 PM
The Sentinel
Starring Michael Douglas, Keifer Sutherland, Eva Longoria, Kim Basinger
Released April 21st, 2006

'The Sentinel' tells the story of a man who has spent his entire life working for the secret service and protecting the life of the President. All seems well in his life until he is caught having an affair with the First Lady. When photographs of him kissing the President's wife begin to pop up, Pete loses his cool, but does his best to cover things up. All the while, an unknown member of the secret service has been leaking top-secret information to a group of criminals with designs to assasinate the President. While Pete would seem to be the prime suspect in this situation, things get even more complex as the truth, and the lies, begin to unfold.

'The Sentinel' is a poltical thriller that thinks it's much smarter than it actually is. Though it is a mildly exciting ride from the start to finish, it never really hits the climax that you'll be waiting for. My major issue with 'The Sentinel' was the number of plot holes throughout.. Most notable would be the fact that nobody even has a motive to assassinate the President in the first place.

Great performances are delivered all around, and props to Eva Longoria, who can now list something new on her resumee, besides 'Desperate Housewives'. Don't get me wrong, though-she does a great job playing Jill, a rookie secret service agent, and looks great in the process. Keifer Sutherland treads familiar territory here as David, a fellow secret service agent, who has a very cliche "tough senior" gig, with a few anger issues. Michael Douglas returns to the big-screen after a few-year absence, and proves he's still got it with some intense action sequences. My personal favorite performance is Kim Basinger, who plays an unhappy and distressed First Lady, who is tangled up in a love triangle that gets messy.

You'll be mildly entertained with this popcorn muncher, which has its fair share of plot holes, and predictable ways. You'll be on-edge and in suspense for much of the film, but will be somewhat disappointed when you realise it doesn't lead up to anything spectacular. It's just another action-thriller that will be found in a bargain bin come this time next year, but hey! It's not a remake, and it's not a sequel, so it's worth a matinee. (Psst.. But it is based on a book!)

Score: 6.5/10

sec127
04-21-2006, 09:09 AM
I expected nothing more than an average Hollywood thriller with a predictable ending. Every few months we need a film like this, nothing great but nothing bad to entertain us. Then it will quickly migrate from theaters to DVD and within two years hit cable.

hammerhedd11
04-21-2006, 04:40 PM
I will just rent this. Does it have any good action scenes though?

fantasticfour40
04-21-2006, 04:53 PM
I'm seeing this tomorrow as well as Silent Hill

quiksilver022
04-21-2006, 05:08 PM
I will just rent this. Does it have any good action scenes though?
Yeah, it has its fair share of action sequences, but you'll spend most of your time in suspense opposed to "in awe" from the action. It's entertaining, don't get me wrong, it just doesn't come near to being a great action thriller. It's worth a matinee for sure, or if you've nothing else to do, spend a night movie-hopping, but definitely stop by 'The Sentinel', seeing as there are oh so many other gems in theatres at the moment;)

fantasticfour40
04-21-2006, 05:11 PM
I'm going to see it tommorrow, since have nothing else to do after work. Is Michael Douglas casted well in the flick or is it one of his worst roles?

FilmJerk
04-21-2006, 11:20 PM
I can already guess the ending. either Keifer, Eva, or Kim Basiger are the actual moles right? I could be wrong

Starstrike
04-22-2006, 03:55 AM
I can already guess the ending. either Keifer, Eva, or Kim Basiger are the actual moles right? I could be wrong

Actually it's neither of them:nono:

Daniel
04-22-2006, 08:50 AM
''The Sentinel' is a poltical thriller that thinks it's much smarter than it actually is."

I couldn't agree more.

This movie doesn't even begin to compare to two of this previous years' suspense/thriller/acion films, "Inside Man" and "16 Blocks."

I called the affair between the first lady and Garrison [Michael Douglas] before it was revealed as well as who the mole was long before that was revealed [although it's completely lackluster when they are revealed].

In all honesty, I think the movie was trying to make you think Garrison was the mole, then it suddenly does everything in its power to undermine itself and exonerate him. I think the movie then weakly tried to make the viewer think Kiefer was the mole due to his distaste towards Garrison and his dogged approach to apprehending and killing him. Once again, the movie exonerates him when he fails to shoot Garrison dead when he has the chance to do so.

Eva Langoria was reduced to simple eye-candy, Kiefer was stiff and kind of boring, and Michael Douglas was his usual smarmy self. The action sequences were decent, the mall scene was somewhat intense, but the movie has this intense build-up and then just kind of flounders at the end. Think of blowing up a ballooon, and how it takes work and effort and lots of air, then it just makes a farting noise and goes flat. The assassins are revealed and its just very matter-of-fact. There is no reason given as to why they are going to kill the president, no motive whatsoever. Even the mole himself never gets to full explain the reason he was a mole in the first place. There is simply a vague reference to some deal 20 years earlier. That's all you get for a motive and a reason. And, the assassins kind of suck and get owned fairly easily.

This is a rental at best. I would just wait for it to come on TV and record it, save it for a night when you're really really bored.

3/10.

Daniel
04-22-2006, 08:56 AM
Actually it's neither of them:nono:

"Neither" applies to two. They asked about three.

But, no, it wasn't any of them.

Glordreen
04-23-2006, 11:44 AM
I quite enjoyed it. It was your cliched political thriller, but it was entertaining.

7.5/10

moviebuff801
04-23-2006, 06:30 PM
I highly enjoyed this. It was much better than I expected due to solid performances by Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland. I was deeply involved in the plot and the action scenes were well handled. "The Sentinel" may be an early frontrunner for best thriller of the year.

Ethan_Hunt3
04-24-2006, 07:24 PM
It was ok. Unfortunately now everytime Kiefer plays an agent, you will think "Jack Bauer". A few moments during the film I kept thinking "this is 24".

goaheadask
04-24-2006, 08:15 PM
I just think Jack bauer is cool.

FVD
05-02-2006, 06:15 AM
Just got back from seeing this. It's not too bad a movie actually. To whomever it was that said that Agent Breckinridge (Sutherland) (also sounds like the suburb in Brisbane ;)) was the mole shame on you. Here I was thinking through the entire film thinking he was just that. But I'm glad the ending turned out for the better. Having not seen Eva Longoria act before I thought she didn't do too badly. And she hasn't got too bad a body huh :D (so I've never seen Desperate Housewives).

Outcome: 7.5/10

Doomsday
05-25-2006, 11:55 AM
I saw this yesterday because I had some time to kill, and it was everything you guys said, simple cliched yet entertaining political thriller. If you ignore the thousands of plot holes and overly simple plot, it's still something that you can enjoy. I didn't expect much from it, and I was met with that.
6/10