Enemy Of The State DVD > Reviews > The Perfect Blend

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Like who you're supposed to, hate who you're not
Disadvantages:	Some annoying characters/moments

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Hunting through my brothers DVD collection there were quite a few films I saw that I could put my name to a review for, but none of them really jumped out at me. After carefully studying the names of the titles, it would be 'Enemy of the State' that jumped out at me as a movie I should watch for the first time in my life. Seeing a huuuge image of Will Smith on the front of the case allowed a boost to my enthusiasm in the film though, because generally his movies appeal to me, although I still haven't got around to 'The Pursuit of Happyness'. How would his performance hold up in a movie almost 10 years earlier, as this movie comes as 1998 blockbuster.

I honestly had no expectations for this film, which probably worked out as a good thing. I hadn't taken into account what the title of the movie could mean storyline wise, although the opening with two old men sitting around talking was not my idea of gripping. There soon appeared to be a feud between these two, and talking about politics I'm so glad I didn't turn around and turn the movie off there and then, because suddenly one old guy was being drugged and pushed into his car, which in turn was allowed to run into the lake. It was the mans dog running down with the car that really got me, feeling sorry for animals in movies is such a typical thing for me to do. But that was the introduction to the movie, and when there's a bad guy with a lot of power you know it's going to make for a hard enemy to beat. When the police and the media get a whiff of what has gone down by this lake, there is no signs of foul play, although it is soon discovered that a bird watcher has a camera on the lake that was aimed directly at the site of the murder.

The theme of the movie is an issue that still gets discussed today, in how survelliance is tracking each and everyone of us, especially in America. You've probably seen the car advert where it's all about how many times you get caught on camera every day, so you might as well look good. This makes for a lot of high-tech scenes in the movie, such as drop down views on scenes to show them from the satellites perspective, although this isn't done in a way so that you don't see the scene in normal view either. This movie isn't that artistic, but what it lacks in style it makes up for in presence. When the 'bad guys', lead by Reynolds (Jon Voight, who I most recently saw appear in the Bratz Movie but has had more serious roles such as Pearl Harbour) discover that there is a tape of the murder, there is an operation laid on to get it back. Naturally it should be a smooth operation, but when a copy of the tape is made the guy running for his life. Robert Dean (Will Smith) just so happens to be doing some christmas shopping for his wife in the lingerie shop that the chase pursues through, and this is where the tape becomes dropped into Dean's posession. Through some ridiculous computer abilities, the baddies technical team soon decifier the lingerie stores security cameras and decide that the tape must have been dropped into the bag that also stored christmas presents for Dean's son, Eric.

For these guys, there can be no hanging around when it comes to the importance of getting this tape back. The guy who discovered the tape had only told one person about it, so the chances of this cover-up going ahead smoothly is quite strong, and I'm not actually sure what happened to the other person that knew about it. I would guess he didn't appear again for the rest of the movie. So Dean has no idea that he has this tape in his house, but he does have bigger fish to fry in the shape of Italian Americans and being a big shot lawyer he has a lot on his plate at once. Not to mention his family, where his relationship with his wife is still recovery from an affair four years earlier with Rachel Banks (Lisa Bonet), who never really takes off as a character in the movie although she is a source of help for many of Dean's cases. She's not exactly a Bond girl though, lets put it that way. With his life falling apart, and even hs favourite blender going missing, Dean finally gets help from Brill (Gene Hackman) who is the second credited character in the film, although I'm sure he doesn't appear for the first hour. The movie 127 minutes in length, although with a storyline like the one in the movie it's allowed to be. You just have to allow a big more time for the movie than you typically would. I would say that being three years before the 9/11 attacks it is ahead of its time in that it documents how America do want to watch carefully for terrorism from the inside, however perhaps that always was a big theme in the media I was just to young and unaware to realise.

Throughout the movie I had a hard time trying to finalise whether or not I would give this movie five stars, or just stick with a four star rating. I think perhaps the seriousness of the movie gets slightly annoying and repetitive in the middle, although there is a mixture of comedy - especially closer to the end that gives that typical Will Smith feeling. The chase and action scenes aren't spectacular, but I wasn't expecting them to be. I think if this movie was made in 2008 we could probably expect some more special effects, but the way the scenes were directed in this movie are fine by me. The 15 certificate allows for swearing and violence, and I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants a movie that works half on realism and half on guns - although to say guns fill half this movie would be unfair, I just can't see anyone really over 30 enjoying this movie as much as I did. If you do get around to watching it, make sure you look out for the hotel scene with the Woo's - it is laugh out loud comedy.