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Full Review
"Extreme Ops" (Paramount) looks an awful lot like one of those supercharged sports-themed TV commercials, with its glossy footage of daredevil athletes snowboarding down sheer ice walls, skateboarding atop trains, and throwing themselves off precipices.In fact, given that few other situations call for such heart-stopping antics, the movie is actually about the making of a sports-themed TV commercial. Directed by Christian Duguay, "Extreme Ops" stars Devon Sawa, Jane Pallaske and Joe Absolom as extreme athletes working with director Rufus Sewell and Olympic downhill skier Bridget Wilson-Sampras on a shoot in the Austrian Alps.
Needless to say, a documentary about the making of a TV commercial would be a tough sell, so there is also a wheezing subplot about a fugitive terrorist (Klaus Lowitsch) hiding out in Austria until his location is inadvertently discovered by members of the shoot crew.
These feeble plot machinations are only an excuse for the film's main attraction -- lots of extreme sports and stunt work featuring the services of an army of athletes and stunt doubles.
The best of these sequences do briefly enliven the proceedings, most notably an especially energetic sequence in which Sawa and Absolom struggle to elude a pack of guard dogs. Yet so much of the action is simply generic skiing and snowboarding footage that even the most forgiving enthusiast or action fan will eventually grow impatient with it.
Worse, critical action scenes are poorly edited, making it impossible to tell where characters are in relation to one another. Even in a climactic moment when one of the heroes risks his life against the bad guys, we don't quite see him do what he supposedly does.
At least the protagonists seem to be enjoying themselves -- when they're not skiing for their lives, of course. Unfortunately, the spirit of good clean fun is marred by the rather bohemian boorishness of the protagonists, who at one point sit in a makeshift hot tub playing a reckless, randy drinking game. The terrorists' violence, too, is nastier than required by the feather-light needs of the plot.
Because of menace and some violence, brief rear nudity, and some crude and licentious references and behavior, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
These movies have been evaluated for artistic merit and moral suitability by the media reviewing division of Catholic News Service. The reviews include the CNS rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
A-I -- general patronage;
A-II -- adults and adolescents;
A-III -- adults;
L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
O -- morally offensive.
Note: Some movies previously were designated A-IV. Older films with this classification should be regarded as classified L.