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2009 Action Alexander Leyviman Andrea Enright Bobby Tahouri Charles V Bender Danko Jordanov Edward Burns Greg Donaldson Greg Marcks Ilan Goodman Jonathan Pryce Jonathan Tzachor Kevin Elders Marianne Stanicheva Martin Sheen Michael Nitsberg Mike Straub mistery Navid McIlhargey Roee Sharon Sandra De Sousa Sergey Gubanov Shane West Stephen Bender Steve Richards Steven Elder Tamara Feldman Thriller Todd Jensen Trevor White Vee Vimolmal Ving Rhames Yuriy Kutsenko
First Review: An unpleasant wave of déjà vu swept over me as I watched "Echelon Conspiracy," which tells the story of a secret, powerful government organization using a cell phone to control an unwitting young man. Was this not the plot of last fall's "Eagle Eye"? Maybe it's a depressing sign of the times that writers Kevin Elders and Michael Nitsberg and director Greg Marcks ripped off a movie that wasn't all that good begin with. Both films are equally preposterous, but "Echelon Conspiracy" has the added distinction of being a rehash, and not a very good one at that. This is one of those rare instances where it's obvious that the actors don't care that much about what they're doing; even the great Martin Sheen can't seem to rouse himself to give more than a merely decent performance.
Category: Action
All Genres: Action, Mistery, Thriller
Release Year: 2009
Country: USA
Runtime: 105 minutes
Rating: 5.8/10
Languages: English
Director:
Sound: Dolby Digital, SDDS, DTS
Writing by :
Kevin Elders - writer
Michael Nitsberg - writer
Produced by:
Charles V. Bender - executive producer
Stephen Bender - associate producer
Alexander Leyviman - producer
Navid McIlhargey - executive producer
Steve Richards - producer
Roee Sharon - producer
Jonathan Tzachor - executive producer
Music By:
Cast:
Shane West - Max Peterson
Edward Burns - John Reed
Ving Rhames - Agent Dave Grant
Yuriy Kutsenko - Russian General
Sergey Gubanov - Yuri Malanin
Martin Sheen - Raymond Burke
Steven Elder - Charles
Sandra De Sousa - Female Casino Tech
Greg Donaldson - Casino Tech
Andrea Enright - NSA Tech #2
Tamara Feldman - Kamila
Ilan Goodman - Dennis
Todd Jensen - Agent Fletcher
Danko Jordanov - Max's Attacker 2
Jonathan Pryce - Mueller
Marianne Stanicheva - Pentagon Woman
Mike Straub - NSA Operator #3
Vee Vimolmal - Receptionist
Trevor White - Paul Spencer
Official Website:Visit Website
Plot:
The story focuses on a Max Peterson (Shane West), a computer engineer from Omaha, Nebraska. While on business in Bangkok, he receives an anonymous package containing a cell phone so state-of-the-art, it isn't even on the market yet. Almost immediately, he begins receiving a manipulative series of text messages. This leads him to Prague, where he's ordered to stay at a fancy hotel and gamble huge sums of money at rigged gaming stations. This catches the attention of a former FBI agent named John Reed (Edward Burns), who now works as the head of the casino's surveillance team. It also catches the attention of Reed's former partner, Agent Dave Grant (Ving Rhames), who has been sent by an American government faction called the NSA.
While other Americans have received mysterious text messages, Max is the only one who hasn't been killed because of it. This leads the head of the NSA, Raymond Burke (Sheen), to believe that it his involvement has something to do with the activation of a homeland security system known as Echelon. How it was activated and why Max was chosen have yet to be determined; all he knows is that he's constantly under surveillance, and it seems he won't be let off the hook until he's served his purpose.
There comes a point when he meets a Russian hacker named Yuri (Sergey Gubanov), who doubles as a cab driver. He gives Max an earpiece that vocalizes his text messages; what we hear is a monotone female voice that sounds eerily similar to one that controlled Shia LaBeouf in "Eagle Eye" (provided by an uncredited Julianne Moore, which is just as well, especially if it happens to be her voice in this new film). Max also meets an undercover agent named Kamila (Tamara Feldman), who serves no real purpose other than looking sexy. This doesn't work too well for film that's rated PG-13, but never mind.
One of the film's most baffling casting choices is Jonathan Pryce as Mueller, the wealthy owner of the hotel/casino in Prague. He periodically appears to engage in cryptic, mildly threatening conversations with Reed, who he feels isn't doing a good enough job taking care of the Echelon problem. Why this character was deemed necessary, I have no idea. Other than an interesting metaphor about arrows and phoenix feathers, he contributes absolutely nothing to the story. I got the impression that Pryce was just as surprised by being cast; as is the case with Sheen, his performance has the air of someone not taking his role seriously. This might have worked had the film gone in a much campier direction.
Indeed, this film had the potential to be a lot of fun. The plot in and of itself is inherently escapist, not at all unlike the plot of your average summer blockbuster. But somehow, the elements weren't coming together; I never once felt as if I could just sit back put my brain on autopilot. In all fairness, the writers made a good start by giving the characters incredibly hokey dialogue, which seems to exist only as a way to get from one corny joke to the next. Consider a scene in which Max and Reed find themselves in the middle of a car chase: When Max asks, "FBI crash course?" Reed responds, "Brooklyn childhood." It seems films like this are entitled to one or two especially bad lines. Still, don't expect the audience's laughter to be anything other than incredulous.
The climactic final scenes take place in, of all places, Max's hometown, mostly in a concrete warehouse located in the middle of nowhere. Is it possible to genuinely care about a commentary on computer intelligence and government control in such a setting? Are commentaries even necessary in movies like this? I didn't think so in the case of "Eagle Eye," and I certainly don't think so in the case of "Echelon Conspiracy," a perfunctory story that pretends to be a lot bigger than it actually is. When an action/adventure film is this thin-blooded, it's difficult to understand why notable names are attached to it. One wonders: Did Martin Sheen see something in the screenplay that somehow didn't translate to the big screen? Did he actually believe that the whole technology-gone-awry idea would be properly developed? I shudder to think that a paycheck was the only motivating force.
Goofs:
Trivia:
- Break Videos: Echelon Conspiracy Trailer
- DailyMotion: Echelon Conspiracy Theatrical Trailer
- Google video: Echelon Conspiracy (2009) Trailer
- Metacafe: ECHELON CONSPIRACY: Movie Trailer
- My Space Video: Echelon Conspiracy Teaser
- Tudou: Echelon Conspiracy
- Yahoo Video: 'Echelon Conspiracy' Teaser Trailer
- Youku: Echelon Conspiracy
- YouTube: Echelon Conspiracy Trailer in HD
