Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Leofwine_draca This chilly Canadian thriller appears to have been influenced by the plot of ENEMY OF THE STATE (and ERASER!) and the atmosphere of THE X-FILES in its hi-tech tale of a murky witness protection scheme, secret assassinations, and characters who are never what they seem. It's one of those films with far too many characters, many of whom get mixed up in the brew and don't have much of a part to play anyway. Characters are never introduced and motivations are never made clear. In addition the plot is so darned complex that you'll spend the running time stressfully trying to keep up with the action and working out who is trying to get who. This saps enjoyment from the movie. The final nail in the coffin is the action, MTV-stylised stuff which is deeply disappointing considering the film's star.Dolph Lundgren, action hero of the '80s, found himself in a decline during the 1990s like all the big names from the golden decade of screen action. The dawn of the new millennium found him slogging away in straight-to-video fare alongside former cinematic chums like Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Although Lundgren isn't the world's greatest actor, he always puts in a solid if unexceptional performance and his turn in HIDDEN AGENDA is no different, neither a disgrace nor an Oscar-winner. In fact if anything it may be one of his stronger roles. A shame, then, that his famed martial skills are hardly put to the test as he only gets to show off a couple of kicks and engage in some poorly-staged gun battles.This is one of those films where the director tries to disguise the lack of budget by shooting the action scenes in the dark, where you can't quite see the cheap bullet squibs. It's obvious with the flashy camera-work that he aspires to be the next John Woo or David Fincher, but Marc S. Grenier has little of the skill these directors possess. Similarly, he fails to make the plot line very intriguing, leaving the viewer feeling a little bored and out of touch with the uninspiring leads as the film progresses. No sympathetic characters are built up and instead we get far too many inserts of traffic travelling through a city (with the film sped up). The effect is cool the first few times but quickly wears off, sadly it happens twenty more times through the movie. Generally disappointing, this has little to recommend it beyond Lundgren, the opening chase (the only excitement in the whole film), and a guy who keeps a key glued to the inside of his toupee (!).

Comeuppance Reviews Dolph plays ex-FBI agent Jason Price, a man who runs some kind of witness protection program. When a ruthless assassin called "The Cleaner" is bumping off supposedly protected people, Price must slowly unravel a complex series of lies, deceits, betrayals and double-crossings.What happened with this film is - it's mid-period Dolph and got lost in the video store shuffle. It's in some kind of nether world between his classic 80's and even 90's outings and his current renaissance. It's hard to imagine someone in '01, while perusing their local video store, not just giving the cover a cursory glance and then moving on. But we can see why Dolph took the role. It's different. He probably yearns to play reasonably non-meathead-y roles like this. In Hidden Agenda, he's smart, he's good with computers, and in his cover as a suave restaurateur, we see his classy side. We applaud this change of pace, but that's not enough to make the movie GOOD, unfortunately.Despite the film's strengths, when the film begins, the audience is treated to a jumble of names and situations, as if the filmmakers assume we already know what's going on. So after some more muddled plot developments and frustrating computer gobbledygook, the movie is halfway over and we're not hooked in and involved with the plot. Even Dolph seems bored a lot of the time. Add to that some confusing and characterless "intrigue" and the end product is what best can be described as an arrested development in the Dolph canon. Yes, there are some nice changes of pace, but at what cost? Plus there are some annoying editing tricks and techno music during the scant fight scenes. The problem is, this film doesn't EARN the tricks. It seems like a cover-up for a lack of something. And therein lies the crux of the matter: The filmmakers should have cut a lot of the fat and talkiness and stripped down the film to a race-against-time battle between Price and The Cleaner. Assuming it was done correctly, this would have given the film the turbocharge it needed to be successful. Sadly, instead, with the technology on display (Icarus and Daedalus?) it's like watching a dramatization of an episode of "90's Tech" on the History Channel.We see what the filmmakers were trying to do...had this film come out in the theater it would have starred Matt Damon (doubtlessly wearing glasses) and been a slick Hollywood thriller like Paycheck (2003) or Hackers (1995). So imagine that formula applied to a Canada-shot DTV product with Dolph Lundgren and there you have it.In the case of Hidden Agenda, different does not necessarily mean better for Dolph fans.For more insanity, check out: comeuppancereviews.com

Lt_Coffey_182 The biggest effect this film had on me was the element of surprise at watching a Dolph Lundgren film where he doesn't possess a weapon bigger than his arm! Instead, what we see here is a more subtle Dolph, drinking champagne and smoking fine cigars.After Johnny Mnemonic, almost every single Lundgren film has centred around him and in this effort, he proves a worthy centre piece. I've always liked Dolph, but understand his critics as he has been massively typecast. I advise his doubters to see Hidden Agenda as he gives an understated (by his standards) performance and is charismatic and charming enough to pose as a smooth operating entrepreneur. As expected, in the action scenes, Dolph is brilliant and will keep his hardcore fans happy. Support is adequate. Maxim Roy as the love interest is sexy and puts in a good performance. The supporting cast is unspectacular and simply take a backward stance to allow Lundgren to perform.The plot is also a surprise as it is intelligent and builds up an atmosphere. When I say intelligent, I'm not talking Oldboy, Eternal Sunshine or The Abyss, but that it is not just a case of blowing stuff up. The plot has fairly predictable twists and turns but they are entertaining enough. The methodology of the identification programs is very interesting and the conspiracy theories do well to keep the audience engaged to the end.A likable film with a surprising Lundgren in the thick of it, Hidden Agenda is a slightly above average film that is good at killing an hour and a half!

Sagar-6 I agreed with MooseLundgren's comment that this B film Hidden Agenda is one of the best films since Blackjack. I liked the style, the way they made this movie such as Price checked into his restaurant (I liked the way the camera went into a circle around Dolph pretty quick twice) before he met Renee Brooks. I think it's time to have Dolph Lundgren returned to Hollywood.