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Momentum

5/10

Stars: Olga Kurylenko, James Purefoy, Morgan Freeman

Director: Stephen Campanelli

More like a DVD release for late-night thriller fans than anything else, this South African blaster hurtles from one action set piece to another, with little time for breath in between. And, at the end, it lays the ground for an obvious sequel, seemingly to be set in the United States.

We open on a hi-tech robbery, with the bandits dressed and talking like Darth Vader. One is killed over a dispute as to whether to kill hostages. and the remaining three get away, led by a woman, Alexis Faraday (Kurylenko with barely a trace of Russian accent), only for them to be pursued by forces hired by an ambitious US senator (Freeman, cabling his performance in) and led by Mr Washington (drolly played by Purefoy who seems to be channelling late comedian Dave Allen),

The 'worse' guys care little little for money stolen, but they want the diamonds and an incriminating hard drive, both lifted from the security vault.

The dialogue isn't too bad, but the film is little more than one chase or gunfight after the other, with a beefy South African supporting cast providing collateral damage along the way. Very violent, with a torture porn scene in which the heroine is inexplicably released from agonising pain to set up an action climax.

David Quinlan

South Africa 2015. UK Distributor: Signature. Technicolor.
95 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

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

Review date: 20 Nov 2015