Night Watch (1995)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

I don't know much about Alistair McLean's series, "Detonator." I haven't seen the first film in this series but you don't need too. Pierce Brosnan played Michael Graham, an United Nations agent, who works with Alexandra Paul's Sabrina Carver to find the missing artistic masterpiece, "The Night Watch." They go around the world to Europe and Hong Kong to find it. Supporting cast actors, William Devane and Rolf Saxon do an admirable job in playing agents. The scenery in the film overshadows the plot. There is a budding chemistry and romance between Graham and Carver but predictable.

NIGHT WATCH is a campy adaptation of an Alistair MacLean novel which knows that it is tosh and therefore has fun. Plot: two UN special agents (yeah, really) investigating a fake Rembrandt are drawn into a plot involving North Korea, "communication bombs" and terrible special effects. The film begins with the world's worst rescue mission as Pierce Brosnan, sporting 17th century whiskers, is chased by a handful of what look like Mexican pool cleaners before finding refuge in a rubber dinghy. It then descends into broad comedy as he tries to seduce his fellow agent whilst they are posing as a couple by suggesting that they need to put on an authentic performance in case the room is bugged. It concludes with an Amsterdam canal chase in which an apparently unattended barge full of oil just happens to sail in front of them, in order to provide the requisite giant orange explosion. It's all complete rubbish but at least it knows what it is and laughs at itself. A very gentle Sunday afternoon watch.

Stay clear of this if you value good adaptations of Alistair McLean novels (Where Eagles Dare, The Guns of Navarone, Fear is My Weapon, etc). This must be the worst film made ever. The opening scene is hilarious, even though it clearly isn't supposed to be, the shooting scenes throughout are horrible, the acting appallingly bad, and after an hour you really just want it to end. Pierce Brosnan runs around looking like some American Hillibilly with his British accent shining through every other scene. His smug acting style fits his character, but he just doesn't pull it off. The female lead, Alexandra Paul, makes a performance that surely qualifies for some award given to least impressive acting job ever. Warm presence? Moronic presence I'd say. It really is painful to watch. I had to fast forward the thing in the end in order to avoid hurting myself badly with a stapler. Writer-directer David Jackson probably does his best to make something out of this low-budget production, but in the end the film should be taken to a back alley and put out of its misery.

This film was made before Pierce Brosnan made his debut as Bond and it's a great film.For starters, anything with the beautiful Alexandra Paul in is bound to be great. But there's an interesting storyline and some great action scenes in here.(POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD) Alexandra Paul is a tough and resourceful character who certainly doesn't need a man to help her out. She has some great scenes where she chases a man in a boat whilst she is on foot. And when the bad guys snatch her and drag her into their car she even manages to escape them.Pierce Brosnan also gets some great scenes including a vicious fight with a thug on a small boat.The villains in this film may not be the most memorable villains ever but there's some good scenes with them in.I do have one criticism about the film-William Devane gets a rather limited role for an actor of his talents.I strongly recommend this film. I know Pierce Brosnan will be busy for the next couple of years filming Bond movies but I wouldn't mind seeing him and Alexandra Paul team up again sometime.