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Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever

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Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever
Directed byWych Kaosayananda
Written byAlan B. McElroy
Produced byChris Lee
Elie Samaha
StarringAntonio Banderas
Lucy Liu
Gregg Henry
Ray Park
Talisa Soto
Terry Chen
CinematographyJulio Macat
Edited byJay Cassidy
Caroline Ross
Music byDon Davis
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
 United States September 20, 2002
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70,000,000
Box office$19,924,033[1]

Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is a 2002 American action film starring Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu. Liu and Banderas play opposing secret agents who are supposedly enemies, but team up during the movie to fight a common enemy. The film was universally panned by critics, often listed among the worst movies ever made. In March 2007, the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film #1 among "The Worst of the Worst" movie list,[2] with 108 "rotten" reviews and no "fresh" ones. Financially, the film was also a box office failure, recouping just over $19.9 million of its $70 million budget.

Plot

Michael, the son of Robert Gant (Greg Henry), director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), is kidnapped when he returns home from a trip to Berlin, despite a heavily armed DIA escort. The kidnapper is a former DIA agent named Sever (Lucy Liu). Former FBI agent Jeremiah Ecks (Antonio Banderas) is asked by his old boss, Martin, to investigate the case. Ecks realizes that the kidnapper must be one of the Chinese girls the DIA adopts and trains as secret agents and assassins. Gant orders his DIA agents led by his right hand man, Ross, to pursue Sever.

Ecks discovers that Gant stole a dangerous nanobot assassin, which operates in the human circulatory system. Gant had placed the nanobot in Michael's body in order to smuggle it into the country.

At the outset of the film we see that Gant is married to Vinn (Talisa Soto), who was previously married to Ecks. It is later revealed that Gant separated Vinn and Ecks by staging their deaths by car bomb so that each of them thought the other was dead. Vinn was officially declared dead and had a closed-casket funeral attended by Ecks. Gant had also facilitated a mission in which Sever's husband and child are killed. Sever blames Gant for their deaths so it initially appears that Sever has kidnapped Gant's son, Michael, for revenge but we later learn that Michael is not Gant's son but it is actually Ecks who is Michael's father and Sever has kidnapped Michael to keep him safe from Gant.

A final battle happens near an old railroad station. There, Ross and Gant confront Ecks and Sever who have teamed up to defeat Gant. A long battle with explosions and gunfire follows, with Ecks and Sever eventually getting the upper hand on the DIA agents sent to kill them. Ross confronts Sever inside a laboratory and hand-to-hand combat ensues. Eventually Sever wins the fight and kills Ross with a death strike to the neck. It is then revealed that Gant has placed the nanobot inside Michael's arm but as he attempts to retrieve it, he is surprised to learn that it isn't there. Sever then shoots Gant in the arm with the bullet prepared earlier with the nanobot, produces the remote for the nanobot and presses the button - killing him. Sever escapes as the police and FBI arrive. The film concludes with Ecks and Sever overlooking the sea and Ecks thanking Sever for reuniting him with his family.

Cast

Reception

The film was a massive box office failure, grossing less than 30% of its budget at the box office. It also received very negative reviews from film critics. Rotten Tomatoes ranked Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever number 1 on its "The 100 Worst Reviewed Films of All Time" list.[3] All of the 108 available reviews gave the film negative ratings, which resulted in a 0% fresh rating. The film was ranked number one worst movie of the decade.[4] On Ebert & Roeper's "Worst of 2002", Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever was among the list, in the category BAD BONDING. [5]

Among the most obvious plot holes noted by critics of the film is the fact that the FBI - an organization intended to work within the United States - is somehow working in Vancouver, Canada, causing costly shootouts with other Americans.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack includes the following tracks:

  1. Main Title
  2. Name of the Game
  3. Smartbomb [Plump Dj's Remix]
  4. Heaven Scent [Original Mix]
  5. The Flow
  6. I Think of You [Screamer Remix]
  7. Hell Above Water
  8. Go
  9. Bloodlock
  10. I Need Love
  11. The Aquarium
  12. Time
  13. Anytime

Video games

A Game Boy Advance first-person shooter, Ecks vs. Sever, was based on a very early version of the film script and, story wise, is almost nothing like the final rewrite. It was released in 2001, before the film. It was considered an impressive technological feat on the GBA and was accepted more than the film itself.[6] A second game created after the premiere, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, which follows the plot-line from the film, is considered a sequel to the first game. It received very positive reviews and received a 9/10 on IGN.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ecksvssever.htm
  2. ^ "The Worst of the Worst", rottentomatoes.com (archived at Wayback Machine)
  3. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/features/special/2007/wotw/?r=1&mid=1116131
  4. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/worst_of_the_worst/10/
  5. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20030525163255/http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandroeper/030120.html
  6. ^ Metacritic Review Database for the Ecks vs. Sever GBA game
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