Review of Executive Decision (1996) by Robin D — 12 Jun 2009

This Tom Clancy rip-off action "spectacular" starts out on some pretty poor footing - complete with bleeping text that types on the screen to remind you that you're watching a "military movie" and some godawful sequences, acting and writing.

..but - to the amazement of this reviewer - the film suddenly (and inexplicably) gets BETTER at the start of Act 2! The first sign is the sudden and inexplicable death of Steven Seagal (yay!!) followed by a surprisingly awesome and well-written, taut, engaging and fun second act headlined by decent performances by Kurt Russell and John Leguizamo as well as (another surprise) Halle Berry! Unfortunately nothing good can last forever and the third act spirals away from the second act's brilliant handling of personalities, professionals and cool military tactics and becomes a vapid low-rent actioner yet again.

No brainer and probably required viewing only with beer, the middle part of the film is so good that it ALMOST justifies seeing it despite everything else being pretty damn awful.