Hidden Agenda

Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Maxim Roy Director: Marc S Grenier Original UK Premiere: 2001 Dvd Release: 10th March, 2003 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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This is a real departure for Dolph Lundgren. Usually he will play some mono-syllabic killing machine in sub-Schwarzenegger movies that lack the finance to compete with the big boys in terms of explosions.

What differs in this film is that it is a thriller, a well written, if un-original, techno thriller, in the vein of Enemy of the State, only far more logical. This isnt as good as EOTS by any means but is still an enjoyable thriller. What is good is the story is full of twists & it all weaves together nicely by the end. This is more than a who dunnit, the who isnt as important as the who for & the why. The film keeps a sense of mystery throughout.

Compared to Dolphs recent films this has a good look to it. At 5 million dollars it is not much but they have made the film look great thanks to Sylvain Braunt, the Emmy nominated cinematographer, & they have packed in some big explosion & relied more on fight scenes rather than loading it with poor shootouts. The action in this is good, there are some crunching fight scenes while the shootouts are adequate.

This has a decent cast, nobody you would have heard of but they are good. Maxim Roy is good & also Serge Houde as Paul Elkert, a key player in the plot. The cast is not a problem as with most straight to video films. A problem is the score though. In the non-action parts it is good, suiting this type of film well, but in the action scene there is a very repetitive techno score.

As for Dolph, it is good to see him playing a character with intelligence. He has an intesity that is more about his personality rather than his physique. This is a good performance for Dolph. Overall though this is a decent thriller which even non Dolph fans can watch & enjoy. It does take a second viewing to fully get everything but it is worth watching again in my opinion.

Dolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor. He attended the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, later received a masters degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney & was eventually awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to MIT, but then changed the course of his career towards drama. In 1985, Lundgren made his feature-film debut in the James Bond film A View to a Kill. Then he beat out 5000 other hopefuls to land the breakthrough role of Ivan Drago, Sylvester Stallones opponent in Rocky IV. He received his first lead role as He-Man in Masters of the Universe, based on the popular childrens toy, but the film was not a success & was ridiculed by most audiences. Lundgren subsequently however found his calling in action films. He also starred as Frank Castle, The Punisher, in the 1989 film The Punisher. He is 1,97m tall & weighs 238lbs. Swedish, English, German, French & Japanese & his IQ is given on his website as 160. At the age of 15, he was self-described as one of the weaklings people kick sand at on the beach, but later became a karate black belt. Posters Of Hidden Agenda

Editors Choice: Hidden Agenda, Sweepers, Bridge Of Dragons, Storm Catcher, The Last Patrol, The Peacekeeper, The Minion, Red Scorpion, View DVDology

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