Director: Matthew Reilly
Cast: Elsa Pataky, Luke Bracey, Aaron Glenane, Mayen Mehta, Paul Caesar, Belinda Jombwe, Marcus Johnson, Zoe Carides, Kim Knuckey, Deniz Akdeniz
Running Time: 92 min.
By Paul Bramhall
I have to be honest, writing about Matthew Reilly in 2022 is not something I saw coming. To give some background, way back in 2000 my friend lent me a book, handing it over with the ominous words “You have to read this.” The book was called Ice Station, the second novel penned by Reilly (then billed as Matt Reilly), and indeed it was like nothing I’d ever read before. A 500 plus page action adventure penned with the enthusiasm of someone who lived on a diet of Red Bull, and featuring all of the narrative logic of an over excited 10-year-old. It was, however, highly entertaining. The brazen fact that Reilly seemed to ignore every rule in the book (pun intended) when it came to narrative cohesion saw me laughing one minute (a character with a prosthetic leg detaching it to appear as if they’d been blown up), to feeling completely numb the next (a ridiculous hovercraft chase that goes on for over 30 pages!).
I read a couple more of Reilly’s subsequent novels before the constant manic energy and silliness lost its novelty, and so it was he slipped into the recesses of my memory banks. Imagine my surprise then, when in 2022 it turns out he’s stepped into the director’s chair and helmed his first feature, landing direct to Netflix in the form of Interceptor. Naturally, curiosity got the better of me. While I was aware many of Reilly’s novels have had the rights purchased by various studios, it’s less of a surprise that none of them have made it to the screen, more than likely due to the fact it’d require a mega budget to realise the action sequences. So it is here we get a stripped-down action Continue reading
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