One of the worst espionage films of all time, in my opinion.
Anyone who saw the original series, from the 60s, with Sir Roger Moore in the lead role (he later took on the character of another charming secret agent, James Bond, who made him world-famous), will never forget it. It was arguably one of the best-made European series of that time, and was a huge success. I've never seen it all, although I'd like to, especially because I'm not that old. I saw some episodes released on TV channels dedicated to old programming, and I recognize that there is no way to compare the original product with this film, which is much inferior.
Technically, the film seeks to make everything that was most advanced available to the production, but it still doesn't give us a great visual spectacle. Any film in the 007 franchise from the Pierce Brosnan era (roughly the same time) can be much better, more visually stunning and better executed. From the sets to the editing, to the cinematography, costumes and special effects, the film never manages to be as incredible as it would need to be to enchant us. This does not mean that it is poorly executed or makes very glaring errors in this area! It's simply more of the same.
Val Kilmer is not a bad actor, but he is one of those actors who need to be very well directed to get where you want him to go. I've seen him in other films where he's simply impeccable, so I can't blame him entirely for being such a slob in this film. Personally, I think that the material he was given to work with was already bad and that the director, Phillip Noyce, was not able to help the actor as he needed. However, it is fair to mention that Kilmer was, even so, the most competent actor present in this film! Elizabeth Shue has nothing more to do than be the damsel in distress of the day and the hero's more than obvious romantic interest (the old misogynistic cliché of the woman as a reward trophy at the end of the feat), if only because that spend the entire film showing how needy she feels! It's degrading and sad! The actress is terrible and doesn't go beyond a mediocre effort. Even worse are the two villains, Rade Serbedzija and Valeriy Nikolaev. The first still shows some qualities as an actor and tries to do something convincing, but he is stuck with the oldest clichés about corrupt Russian oligarchs, and the second is just the brutal sidekick with narcissistic and sociopathic tics.
The film might not have sunk completely if it had at least had a script worthy of the name. Unfortunately, Noyce consented to direct one of the worst spy movie scripts I've ever seen. It starts by taking one of the most fanciful and idiotic myths in nuclear physics, which is cold fusion, something that any school teacher in the area will be able to explain very easily is impractical. Then, it invents an energy crisis in Russia! In one of the world's largest producers of oil and natural gas! It's something so absurd that you can't believe it, even considering that this crisis could be caused by a group of people with an interest in destabilizing the country. Wasn't there really a more seductive or appealing plot that could have been used?
