The Enemy (2001)

Sadly Over-hyped

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Fresh and Exciting

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Watching director Tom Kinninmont's "The Enemy" on DVD, I was felt like I could pause the disk and leave it that way for an eternity. The only reason for seeing this low-budget, lightweight trifle was the casting of former James Bond 007 Roger Moore as the head of MI6. As Dr. Michael Ashton, Luke Perry plays the son of brilliant geneticist George Ashton (Horst Buchholz of "Tiger Bay") and Michael thinks that he knows who is father is. Truth is Perry doesn't have a clue because his father once worked for the KGB, created a deadly toxin, and now is the hunt list of every espionage agency in the world because terrorists want his toxin as a weapon. Kinninmont could have photographed a game of croquet for all the thrills and chills that he drums up in this lukewarm adventure. Luke Perry is as listless as this movie is slow. Perry isn't convincing as a scientist who occasionally pops off a shot at the bad guys and nails one. Roger delivers his lines with class, and he acts like he really believes something terrible is going to happen. Maryam's first cousin once removed, Olivia d'Abo plays pistol-packing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Penny Johnson. She allies herself with Perry, and they share feelings for one another while Perry's pop (Buchholz) struggles to outwit the villains. The trigger happy villain Mannek (Hendrick Haese of "The Point Men") is fairly brutal and doesn't have a qualm about shooting and killing people who get in his way. Roger Moore gets armed and dangerous during the last ten minutes, and RCMP Inspector John Cregar (Tomi Conti) delivers his lines well, too. Lackluster from start to finish, "The Enemy" is an adversary you shouldn't watch. Only Roger Moore completests should bother.

Ho-hum. An inventor's(Horst Buchholz)deadly biological weapon is in danger of falling into the wrong hands. Unknowingly his son(Luke Perry)has been working on the antedote all along. Enter CIA agent Olivia d'Abo and the cat-and-mouse car chases and gunfire begins. Also in the cast are:Tom Conti, Hendrick Haese and an aging Roger Moore. Moore seems to haggardly move through this mess definitely not one of his better efforts. Perry fans will be accepting. d'Abo is wrong for the role, but nice to look at.

The cast is excellent, the acting good, the plot interesting, the evolvement full of suspense...but it is hard to cram all those elements into a film that is barely 80 minutes long. If more time was taken to develop the plot and subplots, it would have a much better effect. Another 30 minutes of substance would have made this a very good film rather then just a good one.

This movie was pretty good. The acting was great, and there were some really great actors in it like, Buchholz and Roger Moore. This film is full of surprises. Confusing at times...yes, but the twists and turns of the plot always keeps you in suspense. The only thing that this movie had too much of was exploding cars.