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Rollerball (2002) MGM Pictures 1 hr. 31 mins. Starring: Chris Klein, LL Cool J and Jean Reno Directed by: John McTiernan 
Rollerball Rating:  
E-MAIL GIANCARLO DE LISI Somewhere deep inside John McTiernan’s ‘supposed’ action fest is a tepid social commentary on the direction in which the line between sports and entertainment are intersecting. Rollerball is at best a hybrid of social commentary sprinkled with some of the worst acting, scripting, directing seen on the silver screen in a long time. Director John McTiernan has been in a slump over the past decade with the engineering of many mediocre films. Starting with Last Action Hero back in 1993, excluding Die Hard: With a Vengeance, and The Thomas Crown Affair (which really wasn’t McTiernan’s forte) this Director has not been consistent with his filmmaking. Therefore, skepticism was high upon screening this film. I have always admired this Director for his previous efforts and he always seems to hatch something new, yet in this film, it sinks to a new low. The film commences with its’ hard rock and fervent editing in hopes of imparting upon the audience the dizzying effect this film wants to emit. Unfortunately, its’ grand production values and mock storytelling cannot hide the fact that this is a poorly made film. Chris Klein stars as a young athlete unable to make a name for himself in North America Professional Sport. On a suggestion from his best friend Marcus (LL Cool J), he joins an overseas Sports Entertainment Empire called Rollerball. This mix of fast paced drudgery and furious speed leads to serious ramifications which question the integrity of the sport. Jean Reno plays Petrovich, an entrepreneur who decides to sell the sport as the most violent and fast piece of entertainment in order to land a contract with the North American market. Operating in remote and hostile countries in the Middle East, Petrovich wants to take the sport International and slowly escalates the game’s danger in hopes of attracting ratings. Jean Reno does his worst to bring no class and no charisma to this awkward character while Chris Klein is just deplorable as even his beard seems painted on for how young he is to play the lead in this kind of film. McTiernan does his best to capture the ferocity of such a sport but fails horrible in what is the most taxing 90 minutes for a film. I can respect the fact that the film is not as visually a debacle as it could have been, nor is it as bad as I thought it would be –but it still is a bad film. One can simply take a look at any 10 minutes of the film and derive their own assumptions about the film; the elements that make a film a film are lacking in this piece. The only noteworthy and experimental aspect would be a scene of several minutes duration in which McTiernan lenses the scene with a NightVision Lens (Those green, grainy images) in order to evoke a feeling of compete and utter darkness. But that soon gives way to a mockery of a scene as all reality and excitement is washed away with some of the worst filmmaking in a long time. Click here to comment on this review or post your own thoughts. Giancarlo De Lisi © TheWorldJournal.com |
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