Kingdom, The

Stars: Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman

Director: Peter Berg

After a portentous history lesson that seems to have little to do with the main story, this action film does at least get down to business. More than 100 American citizens and native soldiers are killed by terrorists in an attack on an American oil company compound in Riyadh.

The FBI sends Foxx and Garner to sort it out. Yes, they send a woman. To Saudi Arabia. Still, after Jen and Jamie shoot up half the country, they get the job done and, with colleagues Cooper and Bateman, merit a guard of honour as they leave.

This is like a giant episode of NCIS, although that TV series has smarter scripts, not to mention dialogue you can actually hear and plots you can follow. Never mind, there are some jolly good action scenes here, even if Jen and Jamie find that gunning down Arab baddies is a bit like a crow shoot. And they do sustain a few scratches in the process.

Best scene: a desperate fight where Jen and a bound-and-gagged Bateman take on a very hefty terrorist, which includes a few knife thrusts that may make you wince. There's a little attempt at philosophy at the end, even though this isn't really that kind of film.

David Quinlan

USA 2007. UK Distributor: Universal. Technicolor.
109 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 01 Oct 2007