The thing about Ridely Scott; is that he insists on making three bad films for every one masterpiece, younger sibling Tony on the other hand, is consistently good, albeit having never ascended to the giddy heights of cinematic greatness. But if you, like me, live in a world where "Top Gun", "True Romance" and "Days of Thunder" enjoy a play-rate far exceeding that of accepted classics like 'Blade Runner", "Alien" or "Gladiator", then you"ll probably love Tony"s latest.
Kiera Knightley, who began this movie a day after wrapping "Pride & Prejudice", swaps Lizzie Bennett"s bodice and ball-gown for Domino Harvey"s M-16 and Uzi in Scott"s unique take on the short, but adventurous, life of model-turned-bounty hunter; Domino Harvey. There"s plenty of action, most of it quite raw in spite of the many filters and jump cuts, which intentionally work to parody Scott"s trademark MTV style (or the Bruckheimer method as its now known). Chris Walken fans will love his cameo as a smarmy TV exec, whilst Mickey Rourke, Rizwan Abasi and Edgar Ramirez also play their parts well. The only thing that annoyed me was Kiera"s plumy RP accent, which seems better suited to the forests of Narnia than the mean streets of L.A. "Donnie Darko" director Richard Kelly wrote the script and Tony Scott ensures that he throws everything but the kitchen sink at us, in an all out, balls-to-the-wall visual onslaught that"s every bit as exciting, albeit not as narratively accomplished, as "Man On Fire". Trashily enjoyable.