Synopsis
A madman with a dream of cleansing the planet steals a ferociously deadly virus and kidnapsMadchen Amick, the only scientist who potentially knows how to create a vaccine for thedisease. A multinational special forces squad is sent to find the bad guys and rescue Amick.Meanwhile, our villain begins the spread of the virus, and a trigger-happy National SecurityAdviser wants to nuke all of Africa. Erstwhile mummy Arnold Vosloo is the scientist at theWashington HQ urging calm.
…p>Boom boom, bang bang, race against time, etc. etc. etc. Nothing new here, beyond adismayingly cavalier attitude on the part of the American authorities towards bombing the hellout of sovereign nations at the drop of a hat. Anyway, it’s all put together with competence, butwith such rote predictability that the excitement generated is close to nil.
Audio
What excitement there is can in large part be credited to the 5.1 audio, which is very active.Every conceivable opportunity for surround effects is used (and even a few inconceivablemoments, as when a baby is heard crying in the rear where none should be). The explosions areenveloping, and have a good bass tone. The music has some very interesting front-rear separationgoing on too. There is some minor buzz on the dialogue, however.
Video
The image is fullscreen and rather grainy, especially in the establishing exterior shots. Thedarker scenes in Washington are a bit murky, and here the grain is of the digital variety. Thecolours in the African scenes are better, but the picture is never perfect, as edges have a tendencyto break up.
Special Features
The trailer. The main screen of the menu is scored.
Closing Thoughts
Terminally been-there-done-that, though at least the kabooms look good.
Special Features List
- Trailer