William Jones – Google

I saw this movie today not expecting too much because of the recent reviews. Maybe that's why I found it a lot of fun. A little over long perhaps, but I could see they were trying to move the franchise in a different direction. At times it had the feel of an international thriller, influenced slightly by Bourne and Bond. This is a good strategy, because the movies were just becoming a rehash. So whilst not the greatest movie, it was very entertaining, ambitious and refreshing. It was also nice to see the old cast back together.

Clumsy, sentimental nonsense which borderlines tasteless by the time it reaches the climactic, yet oddly low key, ending. Gone is the punchy humour which defined the original movie. Without the original star player, New York City, the film feels out of place and slow. The edginess is replaced by tedious emotion and self indulgence. The kids performances were very good and they made the best of a bad situation, but tranposing exact classic scenes onto a rural background is not the way to stir nostalgia, it's just lazy writing. I so wanted to enjoy this movie, but it was a huge disappointment.