As yet another holiday season has descended upon New Zealand's school children, so too have several new releases, all aimed at keeping the hordes of bored kiddies occupied during their break.
One of these new releases is the movie Stormbreaker. Stormbreaker is Britain's answer to America's Agent Cody Banks, and if you were to put this film's lead character, Alex Rider, in the same ring as the young Cody Banks, you get the feeling that it would only be a matter of time before the teen-aged American would be sent running home, crying to his mommy.
Stormbreaker is based on the children's novel by Anthony Horowitz, and tells the story of Alex, a young British schoolboy whose secret agent uncle (Ewan McGregor) is murdered by thugs under the charge of a dastardly American villain played by Mickey Rourke. One thing leads to another, and the fresh-faced Alex soon finds himself recruited by the head of British Intelligence (Bill Nighy), trained in the Welsh countryside on how to kill bad guys, and sent into battle against his uncle's wretched killer.
What's disappointing about this film is that director Geoffrey Sax seems to have borrowed bits and pieces from the Spy Kids and James Bond franchises and simply thrown them together with not much success. The story drags slowly to its final predictable conclusion, and by the end of the movie you can't help thinking how much more you would have liked to have seen of the supporting actors than the somewhat wooden theatrics of Alex Pettyfer in the main role.
It musto be said that the character of Alex Rider is both cooler and tougher than his American "Cody Banks" counterpart, and that scores of teenage girls will also probably find him better looking, so this new franchise does look set for a long and healthy life. However you can forget counting me amongst the number of future adoring fans. Give me a James Bond film any day.
