Cleanskin

Terrorism On British Soil: This Action Film Covers Familiar Territory, But Finds A Unique Voice As It Progresses
Truthfully, I'd give any movie with Sean Bean in it a chance and that was a primary point of interest in checking out Hadi Hajaig's "Cleanskin." Include the marvelous Charlotte Rampling, and it's an added bonus that's hard to resist. "Cleanskin" is yet another British action film that examines the effects of terrorism on domestic soil. There have been so many films and TV shows on this subject, it might well be impossible to offer up anything new. "Cleanskin," from a plotting standpoint, certainly isn't breaking the mold you've come to expect. It opens with a bold action sequence, obvious budget constraints, and sketchy character development. After about thirty minutes, I'd almost written it off as unimaginative and completely routine. But the uneven tone of the opening slowly starts to settle itself into a groove and the picture begins to get progressively better. Credit must be given to Bean. He doesn't have a lot of shading, but his relentless brutality is riveting. Even...

IT'S IN MY NATURE
Terrorist are able to steal some plastic explosives from British Intelligence. The British have placed a tracer in the Semtex explosives. When a terrorist uses the explosives, Charlotte Rampling (Charlotte McQueen) of the agency asks agent Ewan (Sean Bean) to do whatever is necessary to find the terrorists, even going beyond standard protocol. Mark (Tom Burke) will be his young assistant.

Meanwhile, we do get to see our terrorist in a subplot. It starts six years ago and goes into his indoctrination and transformation. The film let's us see the conflict within the Muslim community as those who see the west as evil, those who destroy and rape their culture. And then there are those who admire the west for its freedom and opportunities it affords people of all religions.

This is one of the better British crime/drama/thrillers I have seen, primarily because they have imitated American films and have stopped trying to do them the British way with quirky humor and...

A very good action movie
I picked up an advanced copy and thought it was going to be a typical British movie which I do not like. I was pleasantly surprised how very good it was.

The story is interesting. It had plenty of twists and turns that kept me interested throughout keeping your interest up until the end. Some of the story, I thought could have used some work, for example, a fundamentalist Muslim cleric is unlikely to be too excited about going to his boy birthday party. If he did, he would not mention it publicly. The scene, however, is important as it shows the attitude the cleric has to his disciple. To the people that organise suicide bombers, these people are a weapon, not people. Some of the other scenes on recruitment to Islamic terrorism seemed a bit too simple - Hollywoodish. Still overall it was well done. It showed a young muslim guy looking for something and how he gets drawn to terrorism.

The acting was good. The characters are interesting. I did like the fighting...

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