Icon (2005)

Powerful

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

the movie is complete disaster. i don't know who write scripts for movies like this one, but i would definitely love to meet one of them and talk to him a little bit. perhaps script writers really don't know sh*t about situation in foreign countries in present or recent past? or they just don't give a damn and write everything that they think it's interesting.a great and everlasting formula with mad dictator + 1 lonely hero (an American of course) might seem like a good idea, but come on?! we had such a tyrant in serbia (milosevic) who did a lot of bad things to it's people, but i simply can't imagine him yelling "shoot them, shoot them" with such a barbaric passion, like in medieval times. maybe they wanted to show how evil he was, but it was a stupid idea. much better impression would be if he just did it in cold blood, like the real monsters do.the list of nonsense is too long, but the funniest thing is: no matter how many national TV stations there are in Russia, Russian president watch American SNN (CNN) news?? OMFG!give me a break!burn this piece of rubish please!AWFUL!

I am still hanging on there for Patrick Swayze. A huge fan, always have been and always will be even if it's just hanging on to the hope that Johnny Castle will get another great role and if it's straight to video for him than so be it...I still think he's great. Icon is an absolute B movie if not because of the budget for any other reason. It must be rated with the fact that it is a "B" movie in mind. That being said Icon is a decent little flick with some definite highs and some definite lows. I am quite confident that with a different director and a different screen writer (perhaps Frederick Forsyth himself) this film could have been done very very well. If nothing else Icon is a great Russian film. I have not seen any other film that embraces modern day Russia with a great respect and treats it as good as a political thriller in the US would treat America. The story is good enough although a little confusing at times with some scenes that are unnecessary and a little complex, most notably the opening scene which I am still a little confused about.Patrick Swayze takes the lead role as Jason Monk, an under cover operative, who is former CIA and is coaxed back into Russia with the promise of being reunited with his estranged daughter who he hasn't seen she was a little girl. It still pains me to see Swayze look so old in the face but the guy can still move, he is in great shape and plays the action role just fine. His acting is a little campy at times but it really is the writing and the film that is at best B quality. He certainly shines in the role (I thought) and I think Jason Monk is a marketable character for sequels but they have a lot to change. The supporting cast in the film is also quite notable. Joss Ackland as the reclusive Presidential candidate General Nikolayev is good in his scenes and very convincing as a Russian dignitary, Patrick Bergin is fantastic as the evil "Icon" of Russia who wants the Presidency and is behind the plot to poison different races of Russians in Hitler style. He's cold and calculating but very personable and believable. Steven Spiers is also great as Swayze's friend and partner Viktor. He's lovable and you are drawn to him but he's kind of underused in the sidekick role. Michael York, who unfortunately is best known as Austin Powers' boss Basil plays Swayze's boss and you can't help but remember him as Basil which kind of ruins his role. Jeff Fahey also does a great job as the sleazy America Political spinner who helps Komarov get elected. Annika Peterson plays the main female lead Sonija Astrov and she does a good job too, as good as Swayze does. She handles action well and her and Swayze have decent chemistry. All of them play Russian quite well and I know many complain about the cheesy accents and the fact that barely anyone actually speaks Russian when they would in reality but it's a movie that has to be done in English so to me it was just a matter of assuming they would be speaking Russian normally but in order for us to watch the movie without subtitles...it's English. The cast is absolutely not the issues with the film but rather the reason to watch it. The film style of the film immediately reminded me of another low budget series which I have really enjoyed the "Left Behind" series which coincidentally enough director Charles Martin Smith played a part in the third installment. He wasn't right for this film and I don't think he knew how to properly piece together the story. There was no need for the film to be in two parts or to be as long as it was. Much of the story could have been cut down. Sometimes the sound editing was dead awful as well. Watching characters' mouths move and be out of sync with the words was annoying at times...annoying enough for me to mention it. Or it's the fault of screenplay writer Adam Armus who has a tendency to drag out films (ie: King Solomon's Mines...also a Swayze masterpiece.) When it's all said and done it's not so bad. It's worth watching, maybe not all at once, but a little at a time but it's put together with a very low budget. The special effects and stunts aren't bad but it seemed like the production of the film and the DVD got some poorly budgeted effects which does effect your experience. It's a shame it wasn't better handled because the ideas and possibilities are there. Just not fully realized. 6/10

I actually liked the thing ! Set aside that it didn't ring true with the novel, I am well pleased to see another Forsyth adaptation. Whilst Swayze is still a bit wooden, he has that weary look of an old dog which is good for the part. And I found the casting of Joss Ackland inspired (liked him also as the Ambassador in 'The Hunt For Red October'). Bergin as a rip-off Stalin was very nice, though his fake accent sometimes made me gag. Another joy was the slick Jeff Fahey, love those old blue eyes.Whilst it didn't follow the book, I still rate it as an enjoyable TV-movie. Nice production, a little soft, not that exciting, but still a very enjoyable watch. Don't beat it so hard.Only one thing, Michael York as Sir Nigel Irvine ?. Since Austin Powers one can't take him seriously as head off SIS (which he in the book of Forsyth is). But he's still a fine character actor.The whole thing made me weary for the days when Alan Howard played Sam MacReady in the movies about 'THE DECEIVER'. Wonder when they will be put on DVD (region 2 that is). If they are, please let me know.CNOTE

I decided to rent this, not expecting much since Hallmark stuff is usually kinda soft but what a surprise! Action and suspense. Patrick Swayze is back and kicks ass! It would be great to see him in a real action flick ie Tom Cruise style. I did not read the book but are they ever true to the novel?The cast is great. The girl who plays Sonya (Annika Peterson) is both hot and smart. She runs the show which is impressive in a male dominated flick where the girl is usually just a sex object. This of course made my wife happy. Michael York, from Austen Powers, is slick. However, he could use some more gadgets. The gadgets were weak along with the special effects but the story is a good reflection of what is going on in the world today.