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Cellular
Sometimes,
I get quite a surprise.
Thinking
Cellular was just going to be Hollywood’s
last gasp attempt at a summer action flick, I went in expecting
very little of quality and walked out surprisingly impressed.
This was actually an 89 minute adrenaline rush, and a whole
lot of fun.
The
action revolves around Ryan (Chris Evans, the future Human
Torch), your basic young man whose seems to have nothing
else to do but hang out at Santa Monica Pier. While trying
to impress his ex-girlfriend, he gets a random phone call.
It’s Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger), and she’s
been kidnapped, and he’s the only person she’s
managed to contact on the destroyed phone her captors mistakenly
left with her. Ryan is her only hope (quiet with the Star
Wars jokes), and he goes to extreme lengths to save
her and her family from her captors.
The
movie starts out quietly, but that ends pretty fast, with
murder, kidnapping, and eventually, that fateful phone call
that the movie zooms in and centers on quickly. After that,
the pace is non stop, with only brief periods of slow down
so the rest of us can catch our breaths. There’s plenty
of humor, and lots of irony, but they fit well, and don’t
slow down the movie at all.
One
of the most delightful parts of the movie: the appearance
of the ever wonderful William H. Macy (Fargo, among
others) as the almost retired police officer Mooney. Honestly,
Macy should do more action films; he’s particularly
awesome with a gun. Jason Statham (The Italian Job)
is Greer, the main bad guy that we see. While he’s
quiet, he’s also mean, which is exactly what he needed
to be.
Directed
by David Ellis (Final
Destination 2), you can easily see his stunt coordinator
roots. The film is full of chase sequences of various kinds,
as Ryan speeds from place to place in attempts to save the
Martin family. But it’s done very well, and there
are almost no pointless explosions or events. It’s
all very plausible, which is a nice change from some action
flicks out there these days.
The
plot is simple, and it’s also something different.
While it can be compared to other films, in terms of major
plot themes, it’s still has twists in it that make
it interesting, and a fun ride.
Tastefully
done, with no excessive amounts of death, violence, or blood,
Cellular still manages to be very exciting. There
was no dragging, which is probably why it runs a bit shorter
than usual. They cut out all the possible boring parts and
just left the good stuff. Overall, a well done end to the
summer action season.
But
now, I’m just slightly nervous about picking up my
phone…
Rating:
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