(Rated PG-13, 100 mins.)
The movie opens to consume the audience into Gabriel Shear (John Travolta) and a bank heist. Is he the good guy? Is he the bad guy? Is this a movie within a movie or is this for real? Stuart Jobson (Hugh ‘could he be any more gorgeous’ Jackman) is the world’s most famous hacker previously wanted on twenty seven counts of electronic crimes and labeled the 1998 Wired magazine’s hacker of the year. Ginger (Halle Berry) wants to employ him for her boss. Agent Roberts (Don Cheadle) is the man who previously headed the largest criminal cyber task force and now attempts to stop a campaign to harm the Dept. of Defense. Beyond ” The Godfather” in making him an offer he can’t refuse, Jobson takes an unwanted assignment to protect his daughter, Holly (Camryn Grimes). Suddenly operation Swordfish turns into part “Speed” with the bus, part “Dog Day Afternoon” and part ridiculous. Geeky computer hackers will love this label of “Mission Impossible” style stud, in Aussie sensation Jackman’s performance who seems at times like a young Clint Eastwood. Travolta shows us his “Pulp Fiction” days are back, only meaner and greener with greed. There’s plenty of twists and turns but somehow they disappoint with a sappy sub-story of a dad’s guilt over his child and a flashback opening used as a crutch to reel the audience in. Swordfish opens like a good ‘catch’ but will eventually seem like a smelly fish.
