 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Server
- Review Date: May 19, 2003
- R
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- 2002
Common Sense Media says
This explosion movie is a complete bomb.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie has constant graphic violence and brief strong language. The only real strength of the movie is its portrayal of minorities and women as strong, smart, brave, loyal, and honest.
What's the story?
In BALLISTIC, ex-secret agent Sever (Lucy Lui) seeks revenge on the people responsible for her son's death. Her quest to destroy Gant and his team grows more urgent when she learns they have a diabolical weapon. Meanwhile, the FBI calls in former agent Ecks (Antonio Banderas) to track down Gant. Ecks can't refuse the mission – if he's successful, he'll be reunited with his wife, who he thought was dead. Sever and Ecks cross paths, at first as adversaries -- but eventually they unite in trying to take down Gant.
Is it any good?
Ballistic is mostly about shooting and hitting, an endless barrage of bullets and bazookas to a point that is way past mindless fun and on the brink of being pornographic. It's more video game than movie, though video games have more interesting characters. Dialogue is sparse and idiotic, a mix of re pretentious fake-clever, pretentious fake-tough, and fake-meaningful.
There are endless shots of Lucy Liu shooting huge guns in slow motion, with her hair artistically flowing, plus even more of the usual magically bullet-proof characters who constantly run into gunfire without getting hit but manage to hit the other side every time they fire. It even has the unfathomably stupid clichh of the adversaries stopping in mid-battle to drop all of their hardware on the ground so that they can have a "fair fight."
What families can talk about
Families can talk about whether a movie is good just because it has explosions and action scenes. Are some action movies better than this one, and if so, why? Did you connect with either of the main characters, and if not, did you care? Does strong character development draw you more into a story?
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AGE
Although quite violent, this movie is very good and acceptable for most kids 13+. Banderas is great at making action movies.
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| Studio: | Warner Bros. |
| Director: | Wych Kaosayananda |
| Cast: | Antonio Banderas, Gregg Henry, Lucy Liu |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure |
| Run time: | 91 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | September 20, 2002 |
| DVD release date: | December 24, 2002 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | strong violence. |
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