This is one of the oddities in the career of Roman Polanski. It was a project he wanted to do for years, tried to get funding with different actors, and finally settled on Walter Matthau as Captain Red and (relatively unknown) Cris Campion as his bumbling long-time sidekick Frog. It's a very weird movie in a respect, which is that Polanski puts his own print on what is a big-old swashbuckler. It owes itself in spirit to the Errol Flynn pictures and other on-the-sea programmers of the 30s and 40s, and surely plot is sometimes crazy and convoluted enough to fit the bill... but somehow Polanski makes it work for himself, if not as one of his best. It's sometimes as dark in tone as Cul-de-sac, and other times almost as light as Oliver Twist, but it's also its own kind of movie bird, anchored by an uncharacteristically over-the-top Walter Matthau performance, some good stuffy co-stars like Damien Thomas and Ferdy Mayne, and there's a lot of action to go around the place as well.
From its opening scene on (which is, actually, a really amazing opening scene) to the final one which sort of wraps everything around, Polanski tools around with the conventions while trying to please himself, so to speak, with the formula. I wouldn't say it would be really great for those hungry for more after the 'Caribean' movies (frankly, it lacks a Jack Sparrow in its midst), but it should appeal those who want a strange brew of art-house adventure. 7.5/10
From its opening scene on (which is, actually, a really amazing opening scene) to the final one which sort of wraps everything around, Polanski tools around with the conventions while trying to please himself, so to speak, with the formula. I wouldn't say it would be really great for those hungry for more after the 'Caribean' movies (frankly, it lacks a Jack Sparrow in its midst), but it should appeal those who want a strange brew of art-house adventure. 7.5/10