Director: Albert Pyun
Writer: Paul B Margolis (Screenplay)
Starring: Tom Sizemore, Dennis Hopper, Steven Seagal, Jaime Pressly, Nas, Rozonda ‘Chilli’ Thomas, Peter Greene
Plot: After a San Francisco detective’s partner is murdered by Northern Irish terrorists, the officer joins the bomb squad in order to bring them to justice.
Tagline – When the countdown hits zero, you’re dead.
Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Lacks That Explosive Nature
Story: Ticker starts as Detective Ray Nettles (Sizemore) sees his partner killed in a routine investigation, this sees him join the bomb squad under Frank Glass (Seagal), who has been tracking explosives terrorist Alex Swan (Hopper) who was involved in the senator’s murder a year ago.
When Ray arrests Claire Manning (Pressly), Alex will do anything to get her out of the station, it means he will start playing games with the police forcing Frank to use he own knowledge to take down the terrorist.
Thoughts on Ticker
Characters – Detective Ray Nettles sees his partner killed in a routine investigation into open warehouse, he needs to try and put his career back together after a previous incident, this could be the case which sees him needing to work with the bomb squad to take down a terrorist. This will give him a redemption that he is determined to have. Alex Swan is the terrorist bomber that has been targeting the city, he ups his aggression once one of his people is taken by the police, he proves to be dangerous to everybody in the city. Frank Glass is the bomb expert that has years of experience taking down bombs, he has been working on this for years and wants his own redemption too. Claire Manning is the woman arrested, she has her own past with Alex that is planning on just being left as the target for Alex.
Performances – Tom Sizemore does his best in what is a poorly written film, he is the only one that looks like he is interested in being here. Dennis Hopper can’t keep his Irish accent up and it soon turns into a parody of what we know he can do. Steven Seagal was never really the star of acting, he doesn’t even get to do any action in this film though. Jaime Pressly does try too but we don’t get enough of her character in the film.
Story – The story here follows a down on his luck and life detective that must work the bomb disposal unit to track down a terrorist who has been planting bombs around the city. This does complete the basic check list required for the cop needing to redeem himself after personal tragedy, learning to work with others again and dealing with a villain that will do anything to complete their job. The relationship between Ray and Frank is hard to watch because they don’t seem to actually be talking to each other, while the third act twist just doesn’t seem to come to anything satisfying when you think about it. It all falls into late night TV action story, nothing deep, but easy enough to watch.
Action/Crime – The action we see in the film is mostly just explosions, they are shot for shock value over anything else, which is what the crime side of the film tackles with a terrorist trying to take control of the city.
Settings – The film is set in San Francisco which gives us easy stock footage to use in the background to fill time, but for the most part you wouldn’t even know you were there.
Scene of the Movie – Ray trying to disarm a bomb.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The lack of chemistry between Ray and Frank.
Final Thoughts – This is what you would have to call, a basic late night action movie that just doesn’t get going or give you anybody to be invested in.
Overall: Basic action.
Rating
