Review of Spartan

Spartan (2004)
6/10
Mamet tries for action thriller
26 August 2015
Robert Scott (Val Kilmer) is a military consultant working on Delta Force recruits. Curtis (Derek Luke) is one of those recruits. The president's daughter Laura Newton (Kristen Bell) goes missing and Robert is brought in. He's given 2 days before news spreads to the media. He brings Curtis in to assist him and tracks her to an international sex ring. It's a murky world of secret and mystery.

David Mamet tries his hand on a crime mystery action thriller. I rarely ask for more introduction but I want to know who Robert Scott was before his mysterious present day job. The murky start causes confusion about the limits of his powers or simply what is his job. The suspense is pretty good as the plot keeps it moving like a machine. Val Kilmer is functional but he lacks the star power. The tension is building up to an exciting operation in Dubai but a turn in the middle stalls the movie. Instead of ramping up the tension, the movie chugs along and chugs along. I don't understand why he doesn't go to the higher ups with the information. Some of the plot points leave me a bit puzzled. I think a more accomplished action director would have been better. Also the ending is a mess of twists that are highly questionable.
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