The Saint

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**One of the worst espionage films of all time, in my opinion.** Anyone who saw the original series, from the 60s, with Sir Roger Moore in the lead role (he later took on the character of another charming secret agent, James Bond, who made him world-famous), will never forget it. It was arguably one of the best-made European series of that time, and was a huge success. I've never seen it all, although I'd like to, especially because I'm not that old. I saw some episodes released on TV channels dedicated to old programming, and I recognize that there is no way to compare the original product with this film, which is much inferior. Technically, the film seeks to make everything that was most advanced available to the production, but it still doesn't give us a great visual spectacle. Any film in the 007 franchise from the Pierce Brosnan era (roughly the same time) can be much better, more visually stunning and better executed. From the sets to the editing, to the cinematography, costumes and special effects, the film never manages to be as incredible as it would need to be to enchant us. This does not mean that it is poorly executed or makes very glaring errors in this area! It's simply more of the same. Val Kilmer is not a bad actor, but he is one of those actors who need to be very well directed to get where you want him to go. I've seen him in other films where he's simply impeccable, so I can't blame him entirely for being such a slob in this film. Personally, I think that the material he was given to work with was already bad and that the director, Phillip Noyce, was not able to help the actor as he needed. However, it is fair to mention that Kilmer was, even so, the most competent actor present in this film! Elizabeth Shue has nothing more to do than be the damsel in distress of the day and the hero's more than obvious romantic interest (the old misogynistic cliché of the woman as a reward trophy at the end of the feat), if only because that spend the entire film showing how needy she feels! It's degrading and sad! The actress is terrible and doesn't go beyond a mediocre effort. Even worse are the two villains, Rade Serbedzija and Valeriy Nikolaev. The first still shows some qualities as an actor and tries to do something convincing, but he is stuck with the oldest clichés about corrupt Russian oligarchs, and the second is just the brutal sidekick with narcissistic and sociopathic tics. The film might not have sunk completely if it had at least had a script worthy of the name. Unfortunately, Noyce consented to direct one of the worst spy movie scripts I've ever seen. It starts by taking one of the most fanciful and idiotic myths in nuclear physics, which is cold fusion, something that any school teacher in the area will be able to explain very easily is impractical. Then, it invents an energy crisis in Russia! In one of the world's largest producers of oil and natural gas! It's something so absurd that you can't believe it, even considering that this crisis could be caused by a group of people with an interest in destabilizing the country. Wasn't there really a more seductive or appealing plot that could have been used?

This is not really a “The Saint” movie as far as I am concerned. It has very little resemblance to the Simon Templar that we got to know in the TV-series starring Roger Moore in the lead role. I have not read the books so I do not know how well the movie actually relates to the books but I have to say that I was a little disappointed to see a Simon Templar that was not really…him. I have never really been a huge fan of Val Kilmer and I do not really think he is the best match for the role. But then, as I wrote, I really do not see this as a Simon Templar movie anyway so. Elisabeth Shue is totally unbelievable as a scientist. I know they had to pick someone reasonably good-looking to satisfy the script but still, she just doesn’t cut it as a scientist. The Russians are giving a much better performance. I quite liked both the Tretiak characters. That is not to say that this is a bad movie though. You just have to forget about the references to The Saint and Simon Templar. The latter is not very difficult since he really do not call himself Simon Templar in most of the movie anyway. What this movie is though is a fairly decent light entertainment about a skilled high stakes thief with a troubled childhood. I say light entertainment because the plot is really not much more than you would expect from a TV-series pilot. There are some fun action, some fun infiltration, disguises, a bit of high-tech etc. Just a mixture of some “fun stuff” making you go “okay that was not too bad” at the end of the movie. Oh, one more thing, I know that Simon Templar used to drive a Volvo P1800 but quite frankly, that was the only cool car that Volvo have ever made. Since the movie was so far from what I consider to be Simon Templar it is a real bummer that they had to choose that modern Volvo crap for him to drive.

Good watch, would watch again, and can't confidently recommend. This movie is definitely dated. Val Kilmer was still riding on "I was Batman" and a bunch of Hollywood actors had decided to have a go at being the next action (/spy) guy, and I think it was to try to knock Tom Cruise out of his position (like that worked). This international spy of mysterious origin, even with an entire backstory as a prelude in the beginning of the movie, just so happens to be targeting "cold fusion", so we get a sci-fi edge. The person that happens to make the most plausible progress on cold fusion just happens to be a "stunningly beautiful woman", Elisabeth Shue, with a heart condition to top everything off. The actual movie experience was good, I promise, but thinking back on things, it all sounds so ridiculous. There is a lot of underlying romantic comedy at play here, and if I'm honest, I don't think they movie knew what it wanted to be: mob movie, sci-fi discovery, rom com, action / spy, political intrigue, catholic revolution, or orphan identity. Most of the fun stuff is spy versus Russian mob or cute rom com stuff, but you could probably get a better experience for either in different movies. It's a good time, but given all the options out there, you're probably better off looking for a more modern spy movie.

Absolutely love this movie. I find it charming, alluring and I seem drawn to it when the weather gets cooler, which probably has something to do with much of the film's setting in Moscow. Kilmer's role almost feels like that of a super hero, with a childhood trauma that still haunts him. The beautiful and vulnerable Elizabeth Shue complements the confident Kilmer. The villains are fun to despise, and the action scenes feel more fun because everyone is freezing their butts off while the viewer is comfortable on their recliner. It makes me nostalgic for this near-millennium period of filmmaking, which for whatever reason also brings to mind films like Sabrina (call me crazy).

By no means a great movie but for some reason have been drawn to this one, seeing it 3-4 times over the years. For the most part entertaining though the dialogue was pretty bad, however I like Val Kilmer in the lead and shares some nice scenes with the lovely Elisabeth Shue. **3.5/5**