The Sentinel

I know that preambles before getting to the review are frowned upon, so I will forgo the disaster that was my attempt to buy an unlimited card at Cineworld entitled "Proof of bank details? What are you on?", with the caveat that I've now got something that not only serves as proof of bank details but also acts as a handy slapping device if they give me any more bother.

So, The Sentinel. Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Kim Basinger. It's a modern thriller with a twist. That twist is that it's actually thrilling, and kept my attention all the way through. After I saw the trailer, I had a good idea what the twist was, but I was way off. And although the basic plot is a very old and cliched horse, here it has been given a new lease of life, possibly through performance enhancing steroids.

Important bit. Did I like it?: Yes. Particularly impressive given how annoyed I was as I entered the cinema (see preamble at the top).

I'm not going to write a long review, it's not necessary. The Sentinel is an enjoyable film, that kept me engaged all through. My mate's wife would not like it, but then she does make Columbo look like an amateur. She can spot plot twists, endings and bad guys at a hundred yards. I enjoyed it, and I'm glad I saw it.

OQ: Crystal!

Score: B- Not sure it would end up in my DVD collection, but enjoyable none the less.

There are a couple of annoyances in the film. For one, the 'bad guys' motives are never really explained. The traitor in the organisation should have been exposed long ago and his betrayal/bargain is never explained properly. However these are minor annoyances. Eva Longoria has a very obvious wardrobe continuity error. You may say I'm nit picking there, but the reason I noticed it was that Kiefer mentions her attire, then seconds later as she leaves a crime scene, her top has changed for no apparent reason. I was also distraught to discover that www.continuitycorner.com appears to have closed down. I used to contribute fairly regularly to the site, but now all that's there is an advert saying the domain name is up for sale.