8/11/2004

Thunderbirds
Based on the British show, the Thunderbirds go live-action, following the sixth Thunderbird (Brady Corbet) as he dreams of following in the footsteps of his father (Bill Paxton) and his brothers. But when The Hood (Ben Kingsley) damages the Thunderbirds' space station and effectively traps them once they leave on a rescue mission, it's up to the young son, a couple of friends, the brainy scientist (Anthony Edwards) and Lady Penelope to save the day.

So Thunderbirds are go! Okay, just stop. You'd think accompished actors Paxton, Kingsley, and Edwards would steer clear of movies like this. Instead, they're part of a film we're laughing at instead of with. Luckily for Paxton, he's barely in it. Unluckily for Kingsley, he must recite bad line after bad line while trying desperately to keep up the facade of a villain. The children awkwardly work through the scenes with an inexplicable handle on each situation. I would have been more interested on how Kingsley and the little girl got those superpowers. What explanation do we get? Ehh, it runs in the family. In the end, kids will probably suck it all up and enjoy it, but Thunderbirds has at much depth as a Saturday morning action show. But at least those are 30 minutes long. 1 star

No comments: