A cat and mouse game between a heroic sniper and sinister assassins, all set in a super high-rise building miles above the ground, directed by Russell Mulcahy, the man who gave us that '80s cult classic HIGHLANDER. It's a premise that can't go wrong, right? Wrong, unfortunately, as Mulcahy yet again proves himself to be a one hit wonder with this watchable but disappointing story that suffers from a slow pacing, a lack of decent action, and a budget that really hurts. You know the film is in trouble when there are only four cast members and the story is set in one location, but despite this, there are flashes of style and inspiration to keep you watching and wanting more. For a start, the camera-work isn't bad at all and manages to make the setting pretty interesting, if bleak; a deserted and run-down building soaked by the constantly pouring rain and covered in grime, littered in dirt.
Into this setting comes all-round action man Dolph Lundgren, one of the more dependable actors in the straight-to-video crowd whose work I'm quite fond of; his highs may not be as high as the high points in Van Damme's and Seagal's respective careers, but at least he usually hits the mark more often than those two with his movies and rarely lets his audience down. Here, we see Lundgren putting in a solid performance as the conscience-ridden sniper with a background; although his character is kept mysterious throughout, Lundgren's subtle (let nobody call it wooden) portrayal keeps his Waxman character interesting, whilst still proving himself a force to be reckoned with in the various action bouts.
Unfortunately the rest of the cast attempt to match Lundgren at his game but their bids do not pay off. Partly at fault is Gina Bellman as the contact Clegg; her character is perhaps even more mysterious than Lundgren's but she fails to connect with the audience, even when emoting; her character always seems cold and distant and never really explored as well as it could be. Then there's George Jenesky as Klein, a security guard with a surprising secret that only comes out in the latter stages; his acting is barely existent with only the odd emotion flickering across his face about every twenty minutes or so. The opposite can be said of Christopher Heyerdahl, who at least puts in an enjoyable if over-acted performance as drug-addicted guard O'Hara, a vile would-be rapist who hallucinates that killer spiders are out to get him.
Most of the action sequences take place in flashback, and prove to be brief but well-staged. They're also exceptionally violent, with deaths occurring in slow motion and loving zooms on blood erupting from human bodies and necks being slashed open with knives. In fact in this respect it's actually gorier than many a horror film I've seen and certainly a surprise to see such violence on terrestrial television. After an incredibly slow first hour (which introduces and explores the characters to a minimal level, whilst they walk and sit around a lot) there is one major set-piece towards the finale which provides something of what I was expecting from this movie, but it really isn't enough and the end result is that I'm left feeling a little cheated. A waste of Lundgren and a bare minimum of an entertainment value, SILENT TRIGGER is recommended for dedicated drama fans only, as its cold atmosphere makes it seem more like an art-house movie than the action flick which it masquerades as.
Into this setting comes all-round action man Dolph Lundgren, one of the more dependable actors in the straight-to-video crowd whose work I'm quite fond of; his highs may not be as high as the high points in Van Damme's and Seagal's respective careers, but at least he usually hits the mark more often than those two with his movies and rarely lets his audience down. Here, we see Lundgren putting in a solid performance as the conscience-ridden sniper with a background; although his character is kept mysterious throughout, Lundgren's subtle (let nobody call it wooden) portrayal keeps his Waxman character interesting, whilst still proving himself a force to be reckoned with in the various action bouts.
Unfortunately the rest of the cast attempt to match Lundgren at his game but their bids do not pay off. Partly at fault is Gina Bellman as the contact Clegg; her character is perhaps even more mysterious than Lundgren's but she fails to connect with the audience, even when emoting; her character always seems cold and distant and never really explored as well as it could be. Then there's George Jenesky as Klein, a security guard with a surprising secret that only comes out in the latter stages; his acting is barely existent with only the odd emotion flickering across his face about every twenty minutes or so. The opposite can be said of Christopher Heyerdahl, who at least puts in an enjoyable if over-acted performance as drug-addicted guard O'Hara, a vile would-be rapist who hallucinates that killer spiders are out to get him.
Most of the action sequences take place in flashback, and prove to be brief but well-staged. They're also exceptionally violent, with deaths occurring in slow motion and loving zooms on blood erupting from human bodies and necks being slashed open with knives. In fact in this respect it's actually gorier than many a horror film I've seen and certainly a surprise to see such violence on terrestrial television. After an incredibly slow first hour (which introduces and explores the characters to a minimal level, whilst they walk and sit around a lot) there is one major set-piece towards the finale which provides something of what I was expecting from this movie, but it really isn't enough and the end result is that I'm left feeling a little cheated. A waste of Lundgren and a bare minimum of an entertainment value, SILENT TRIGGER is recommended for dedicated drama fans only, as its cold atmosphere makes it seem more like an art-house movie than the action flick which it masquerades as.
