Review of Enemy of the State (1998) by Olaolu A — 05 Nov 2010

Still holds up more than a decade later as a solid, fast-paced and surprisingly prescient high-tech thriller that not only delivers on action and adrenaline that one expects from a Jerry Bruckheimer/Tony Scott collaboration but leavens the cocktail with a surprising (and welcome) helping of food for thought.

What seemed kinda far-fetched back in 1998 seems completely plausible nowadays (in fact, the surveillance bill that's postulated in the movie is eerily similar to certain provisions of the Patriot Act, which was passed only a few years later) and that's a huge part of why this film still retains relevance today.

I'm not gonna argue that this is a perfect film; there are plenty of flaws that one could pick out here including several inconsistencies in logical and an ending that is arguably too neat and over-the-top but these things are par for the course in this sort of flick and frankly there's enough about this film that works that it should be easy to over look these issues and just enjoy the ride.