I kinda enjoyed "Standoff (1998)" even though it wasn't the least original. A bunch of FBI agents storm the headquarters of a deeply religious cult Waco-stylee.
But the operation - which we never see, only in flashbacks - goes wrong and two of the agents, played by Robert Sean Leonard and Dennis Haysbert, get away. Sounds an awful lot like "Reservoir Dogs (1992)" doesn't it?
They hide in an old house with the vicious trigger happy cult members lurking outside. Soon more people, a couple of other guys who are also fighting the cult, show up. They don't like each other at first, but they all have to work together to survive and fight enemy outside. Sounds an awful lot like "Night Of The Living Dead (1968)" doesn't it?
And in the basement of this house they find more people, who also hide from the danger outside. Gee, for some reason that's sound very familiar... I've heard that somewhere before, wonder what it could be... Oh yeah, it's "Night Of The Living Dead (1968)" again.
From there, more things happen, problems appear and everything seems hopeless. I can't go on about the plot without spewing spoilers all over the place, so I'll stop right there. Let's just say that if you've even seen only one film in this genre, doesn't really matter which one, you know exactly what's gonna happen and you won't find the ending the least surprising. I spotted that one coming casually from a mile away.
What I liked about "Standoff (1998)" was that I, in all its predictability, actually found it sort of exciting. It's like when you're watching a "Die Hard"-movie, you know exactly what's coming (that's about the only resemblance, but give me a break, it's just an example). You know Bruce Willis is gonna blow stuff up, start bleeding, get dirty and sweaty, spit out a decent amount of one-liners and, of course, save the world. But somehow it keeps you on the edge of your seat, anxiously awaiting whatever comes next.
What I didn't like was some of the acting, Zeke Clayton was nothing short of being one complete disaster. Cliché and stereotyped anyone? But he was probably told to act the way he did by writer/director Andrew Chapman (son of Michael Chapman, wow!) so won't blame him for this flat performance. And I've never liked Robert Sean Leonard all that much. He reminds me too much of Hugh Grant, and that's about as far away from a compliment you can ever get. They both have that nervous appearance with the stuttering and the blinking and all that. No hard feelings though, I'm sure they're both really nice guys, I just wouldn't mind if they would cast someone else instead.
But the operation - which we never see, only in flashbacks - goes wrong and two of the agents, played by Robert Sean Leonard and Dennis Haysbert, get away. Sounds an awful lot like "Reservoir Dogs (1992)" doesn't it?
They hide in an old house with the vicious trigger happy cult members lurking outside. Soon more people, a couple of other guys who are also fighting the cult, show up. They don't like each other at first, but they all have to work together to survive and fight enemy outside. Sounds an awful lot like "Night Of The Living Dead (1968)" doesn't it?
And in the basement of this house they find more people, who also hide from the danger outside. Gee, for some reason that's sound very familiar... I've heard that somewhere before, wonder what it could be... Oh yeah, it's "Night Of The Living Dead (1968)" again.
From there, more things happen, problems appear and everything seems hopeless. I can't go on about the plot without spewing spoilers all over the place, so I'll stop right there. Let's just say that if you've even seen only one film in this genre, doesn't really matter which one, you know exactly what's gonna happen and you won't find the ending the least surprising. I spotted that one coming casually from a mile away.
What I liked about "Standoff (1998)" was that I, in all its predictability, actually found it sort of exciting. It's like when you're watching a "Die Hard"-movie, you know exactly what's coming (that's about the only resemblance, but give me a break, it's just an example). You know Bruce Willis is gonna blow stuff up, start bleeding, get dirty and sweaty, spit out a decent amount of one-liners and, of course, save the world. But somehow it keeps you on the edge of your seat, anxiously awaiting whatever comes next.
What I didn't like was some of the acting, Zeke Clayton was nothing short of being one complete disaster. Cliché and stereotyped anyone? But he was probably told to act the way he did by writer/director Andrew Chapman (son of Michael Chapman, wow!) so won't blame him for this flat performance. And I've never liked Robert Sean Leonard all that much. He reminds me too much of Hugh Grant, and that's about as far away from a compliment you can ever get. They both have that nervous appearance with the stuttering and the blinking and all that. No hard feelings though, I'm sure they're both really nice guys, I just wouldn't mind if they would cast someone else instead.