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Invincible cast: Billy Zane, Byron Mann, Tory Kittles, Stacy Oversier, and Dominic Purcell director: Jefery Levy 91 minutes (12) 2001 Momentum DVD Region 2 rental Also available to rent on video [released 22 July] RATING: 3/10 reviewed by John M. Peters |
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The movie has several martial arts set piece battles but they all lead to an unsatisfying conclusion which wimps out of destroying the cosmic heavy. Invincible is also heavy on the influences of other movies in both the plot and the visual style - here's a few that came to mind while watching it: The Matrix, Highlander, X-Men, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The director has fallen into the trap of utilising various tricksy visual effects to try and enhance a below par script. I'm not sure why respected movie legends Jet Li and Mel Gibson are listed as executive producers; I don't see anything in the finished product that should have attracted their support...
I can't think of anything scarier than the haircut Billy Zane sports during the opening scenes of this movie - it looks like a hybrid of the Gallagher brothers mop tops after a DNA experiment went wrong in a blender. Mind you, the David Carradine 'Grasshopper' look that he sports during the rest of the movie is equally nightmarish. The actors playing his four 'disciples' have little to do other than go through the usual martial arts poses and look inscrutable - characterisation is minimal and none of them really do anything to rise above the mediocre script and direction. Invincible is all flash and no substance, as it tries to mix Hong Kong crash and bash with New Age piety and never gets anywhere.