Review: Thunderbirds (C-)I've never seen the wacky puppet show this film is based on, but the performances in it couldn't have been much worse than the wooden acting on display in this strange film. As I watched Jonathan Frakes' mangled direction of admittedly weak material, I got the sense that the film was originally meant to be more adult-action oriented, and was then shifted into the more kid-friendly version that's in theaters now. The problem is, the only real audience for this film is probably adults seeking a bit of nostalgia. I doubt they'll find it here, though, because the wannabe-Spy Kids adrenaline is pumped to the max in the scenes with the children (the adult Thunderbirds get trapped in outer space early on by a telepathic villain called The Hood, gamely played by Ben Kingsley), while the proceedings screech to a maddeningly comatose halt whenever the adults are center stage. Bill Paxton has never seemed more out of his element. Paxton is a grossly underrated actor (witness Frailty, One False Move), but his seemingly down-to-earth demeanor finds him cast in horribly misshapen studio films like this one (along with Twister, Vertical Limit, Club Dredd). Frakes (2 Star Trek movies, Clockstoppers) proves to have a turgid hand in action sequences, but lacks any kind of grounding in character-motivated sequences. The film has a certain charming wholesomeness about it, but Thunderbirds will ultimately prove lacking in the thrills department for both adults and children. |