8A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, February 3, 2003 ARTS Twists, excitement prevail in Recruit' Death lingers too long in 'Destination' By Matthew Wright Hollerbach Daily Arts Writer Obvious comparisons can be made between "The Recruit" and "Spy tive associate, the film still manages to succeed in its own right. James Clayton (Colin Farrell, "Minority Report") is a young soft- ware engineer with a promising By Zach Mabee For the Daily Game." Both feature an acclaimed veteran actor paired with a young up- and-comer. Both show an experienced senior CIA agent mentoring a younger, detached, rugged and stunningly handsome recruit. And both attempt to portray a very realistic and believ- THE RECRUIT At Showcase, Quality 16 and Madstone Touchstone career ahead of him. Moonlighting as a bar- tender one evening, Clayton happens upon a customer who seems to know a little too much about him. After some chat, he is revealed as Walter Burke (Al Paci- no), a CIA recruiter who is interested in Clayton's Courtesy o ouchstone I know it was you Farrell, I know it was you. You broke my heart! able CIA. In the end, however, "The Recruit" takes its own path. While not exceeding the success of its compara- physical and computer prowess. Clay- ton is initially not interested and rejects Burke, but Burke finds Clay- ton's vulnerability: his father. Clayton had always known his father as an oil company rep who died tragically in a plane accident, but when Burke hints that his death may be CIA-related, t _ . < . . , Y _ _ g~rn~ ~ ~ztual ~i2f~U5~ 2Z~ Clayton grabs the opportunity to find out more. After getting to "the farm," the CIA's training facility, Clayton begins to form a bond with another trainee, Layla (Bridget Moynahan, "The Sum of All Fears"). After intense training and rigorous testing, Clayton learns that his first mission is to use his relationship with Layla, who Burke claims is a double agent, to find her handlers. As Clayton gets closer to his target, he starts to feel increasing- ly uneasy about his assignment and uncovers strange facts that cause him to question the validity of his mis- sion. This conflict twists and turns towards a surprise ending that is mostly unpredictable. "The Recruit" is an example of modern Hollywood entertainment that does not cheapen itself with the con- ventions of popular 21st century film- making. Roger Donaldson's directind is solid and he continues his upward climb after the critical success of "Thirteen Days." Farrell's acting is superb as a con- fused kid whose inventiveness and emotion exudes through his expres- sions, and Pacino remains unparalleled in a rougher performance than audi- ences are accustomed to. Moynahan is also excellent as she skillfully manipu- lates Farrell through her unimbellished sexiness. Fast-paced action and con- stant twists add spunk to the technical- ly sound film. There are no slow spots to speak of, and the romantic subplot skillfully avoids cliche, serving only to strengthen the film. While more in the vein of the tradi- tional action thriller, "The Recruit" is a compelling journey filled with intriguing twists and its fair share of suspense. WANT TO GET FREE STUFF AND WRITE FOR ARTS? COME TO THE MASS MEETING TONIGHT: 7 P.M. AT 420 MAYNARD ST. In the first installment of the "Final Destination" saga, Clear Rivers (Ali Larter, "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back") and several oth- ers fortuitously escaped death. Fol- lowing this prescient escape, however, Clear's friends began dying mysteriously and of apparently ran- dom causes. Clear recognized this phe- 11 nomenon as death's vindication and subse- quently committed herself to an asylumFI in hopes of escaping DESTIN the reaper's grasp. At Shov "Final Destination Qua 2" opens at the home of Kimberley Corman Nev (A.J. Cook), as she and several high school friends embark upon a journey to Daytona Beach. As she leaves her home, pay- ing-keen attention to insignificant goings on, Kim- berley has a pre- monition of disaster in the form of a mas- sive and grue- some traffic accident. Kimberley attempts to pre- vent the accident by barricading the on-ramp with her SUV, but fate takes precedent, and many die, including the friends she wasE vacationing with. Because of K im b e rliey's - efforts, though, a small group of would-be Don't move, I'll go g victims sur- vives the accident. Not long there- after, members of this group begin to mysteriously perish. Kimberley seeks out Clear's assistance, as she knows of no means by which to solve their deadly conundrum. Finally agreeing to fight with Kimberley, Clear joins the other survivors in a brutal struggle to re-establish death's harmony and save their own lives, before their time is up. While its undertones about death's retaliatory nature are N qA lit wL somewhat chilling, "Final Desti- nation 2" utterly fails as a film. From the outset, one must realize that "Destination," like the lot of teenage horror, is intended solely to titillate audience members through scenes of grotesque vio- lence and the occasional dose of crass humor. The story is centered upon the random but systematic deaths of the survivors of the wreck, and the focus is noticeably on their tragic final moments. For example, a moth- AL er is decapitated by TION 2 getting her head case and lodged between ele- y 16 vator doors after a man with a bucketful Line of prosthetic arms accidentally snags her hair with one of his hooked limbs. Rather inventive, eh? Such scenes of the macabre are fairly well crafted and vivid, but the rest of the film is essentially filler. The flac- cid script gives the characters little personal appeal. As the plot progresses, the characters' deaths become almost farcical and are capable of evoking more laughter than pathos. The film's atrocious score only exacer- bates such problems. The frenetic sound behind "Desti- Courtesy of New Line nation" is an youatowel. absolute annoyance, and like the script, it counteracts the film's suspenseful aims. "Final Destination 2" lacks the requisite substance of its subject matter, and it fails terribly at thrilling audiences. Its only merit is fairly well-crafted scenes of death and dying, and those become rather predictable and unappealing progresses. One can only hope that the mak- ers of the "Final Destination" series are aware that their number has been drawn. 0 et Be a hero! Buy a Cupid Gra .' 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