Review of Spartan (2004) by Hunter D — 26 May 2011
What makes SPARTAN a refreshing experience. as far as thrillers go, is that it never, ever relies on exposition. It gives you only the basic facts you need to know, but the movie never stops in order to do so. David Mamet is known for his dialogue-heavy scripts, but SPARTAN, as the title suggests, is all about action.
The plot is a bit like TAKEN, minus the intense family/revenge element. A powerful politician's socialite daughter (Kristen Bell) is kidnapped, and Val Kilmer plays the guy with a certain set of skills who is called on to lead the search and rescue.
Kilmer's character describes himself as a "worker bee," a character who is content to take and carry out orders without question. Of course, this suggests that there will be a paradigm shift in his thinking. But that's about as deep as SPARTAN gets. Mamet's approach is as unpretentious as always, and here's he's made an efficient, entertaining genre movie that never pauses for the audience. We're in the hands of a master here, so it doesn't ever need to.
This review of Spartan (2004) was written by Hunter D on 26 May 2011.
Spartan has generally received positive reviews.
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