Chaos (2005) - Movie Review

Rating: 2 out of 5

Though it ended up going straight to DVD in the U.S. (after earning a total of about $1 million in France), Chaos surprises by opening with a real bang. Might something good actually come of this? The film opens with a big bank heist -- always a reliable crowd-pleaser -- in which Wesley Snipes' Lorenz holes up and makes a bunch of demands, including that suspended cop Quentin Conners (Jason Statham) be brought in to negotiate. But just when things look like they're going to get interesting, Lorenz blows up the bank, the hostages all run out, and Lorenz vanishes... along with the movie's engagement.

Chaos immediately descends into doldrums, with Conners and extremely strange partner Shane (Ryan Phillippe) trying to figure out who Lorenz is and why he robbed a bank but didn't steal anything. Cat and mouse ensues, Seven style, until we figure out the truth that's been telegraphed since the very beginning. (And trust me, everything you need to fill in the pieces can be found in the last two paragraphs.)

Unfortunately, that cat and mouse game is wholly lifeless, coming across as filler between the exciting opening sequence and the ending, though even that is hardly enough to make you pry your eyelids open. The film is filled with scenes like those where Phillippe wanders around like Rain Man, muttering quotes about chaos theory, his one clue to Lorenz's identity. Needless to say, that kind of kills the action mood, and fast.

Facts and Figures

Year: 2005

Box Office Worldwide: $10.3 thousand

Budget: $12M

Production compaines: Mobius International, Chaotic Productions, Current Entertainment, Rampage Entertainment, Pierce-Williams, Zero Gravity Management, Epsilon Motion Pictures, Möbius Entertainment

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 2 / 5

Cast & Crew

Director: Tony Giglio

Producer: Michael Derbas, Huw Penalt Jones, Gavin Wilding, Mark Williams

Screenwriter: Tony Giglio

Starring: Jason Statham as Det. Quentin Conners, Ryan Phillippe as Det. Shane Dekker, Wesley Snipes as Lorenz / Jason York, Henry Czerny as Capt. Martin Jenkins, Justine Waddell as Det. Teddy Galloway, Nicholas Lea as Det. Vincent Durano, Jessica Steen as Karen Cross, Rob LaBelle as Bank Manager, John Cassini as Det. Bernie Callo, Damon Johnson as Brendan Dax, Paul Perri as Harry Hume, Keegan Connor Tracy as Marnie Rollins, Natassia Malthe as Gina Lopez, Ty Olsson as Damon Richards, Terry Chen as Chris Lei, Ken Medlock as Officer MacDunner, Pascale Hutton as Pretty Waitress, Michasha Armstrong as Xander Harrington, Mike Dopud as Lamar Galt, Garvin Cross as SWAT Commander, Fulvio Cecere as Det. Thomas Branch

Also starring: Mark Williams