Throw in a group of skiers, stunt performers and camera crew trying to shoot an extreme commercial with the Austrian Alps and a war criminal and you're bound to get a confusing film.
"Extreme Ops" is just that.
The distinction between the actor and characters is blurred by the separate goals of the film and its characters.
The production crew discovers an unfinished ski resort at the top of a range dividing the former Yugoslavia and Austria.
While on the job, the camera crew accidentally catches a Serbian war criminal, Pavle (Klaus Lowitsch), on tape.
This creates a snag when Pavle catches wind of his exposure and is determined to kill the crew.
With six people stuck in the Austrian Alps with a lunatic chasing them, "Extreme Ops" had the potential to be a worthwhile, suspenseful film.
Instead, it turned out like the Donner Party - dead.
The only thing keeping "Extreme Ops" from total cardiac arrest was a heavy emphasis on stunts, and even those were tacked on. From the casting to the plot and story development, the entire film was poorly put together.
Let us dissect where the wheels fell off.
The cast was made up of that guy who was in that one movie with Seth Green, Pete Sampras' wife.
If "Extreme Ops" needed a psycho so bad, why not cast Gary Busey? But big names don't always make a film better (see "Undisputed"). It wasn't so much the cast that killed the film, but poor character development.
And what really hurt the character development was the video montage introducing Kittie (Jana Pallaske) and Silo (Joe Absolom). Kittie and Silo are the two extreme sport experts brought in to help film the commercial.
The audience is introduced to them and gets a good idea of how crazy they are to do the work they do. The video montage is the lamest way to introduce characters. In fact, I haven't seen it done since "Armageddon."
After an embarrassing beginning, the characters never mold. Each has his or her own objective, leaving little room for friendship or the predictable romance.
Will (Devon Sawa) is hot for Kittie. Chloe (Bridgette Wilson) just wants to prove herself to the director, Ian (Rufus Sewell), who is trying to get the job done. And who knows what Silo is trying to do.
The plot was sniffed out from the word "action."
The audience knows going into the film that the crew runs into someone trying to kill them, yet there is no twist that changes what the audience already knows by watching the trailer.
The cat-and-mouse plot is developed by two stories coming together.
The stories are separated by extended coverage of the crew, followed by shorter coverage of the villains.
It is not until halfway through the film there was a definite point, sending the story to its ultimate end.
The end itself was quite out-of-the-blue. There is no final confrontation. There is no face-off between hero and villain because there was no hero. The helicopter rotor is tangled before it crashes.
The end.
Yes, I ruined the end. But thank me for saving you the $7 for the ticket, the $12 for your date's popcorn and the awkward ride home as the film helps you undermine your confidence.
"Extreme Ops" is a blatant attempt to fascinate the audience by using outstanding shots. So, to the film's credit, it was well directed.
