Better than given credit for

This is Hollywood's A-list version of an old-style B-movie potboiler. Del Toro's war machine runs amok and Jones' teacher tracks him down. Don't expect much more and you won't be disappointed. Like the best B's it's lean and mean, coming in at 85 minutes (sans credits), as any longer and you'd start to notice the joins.

Freidkin may be well past his peak but compared to today's CGI-fixated youngbloods he handles this kind of back to basics thriller material like the pro he is, using good old-fashioned stuntwork, terrific use of location, and razor-sharp sound and editing. He keeps the pace tight and keeps the money on screen to give the story more slick gloss than it probably deserves.

On the down side, Jones does his usual gnarly critter with a soft centre routine but does seem too old for the action work, Del Toro's performance is just plain odd, and Neilson has little to do but fill in the gaps. Nevertheless, the background subtexts (opening Kosovan slaughter, Jones teaching killers without ever being one, nature of guilt, Del Toro putting Man lower in the food chain etc) do beef up the material enough to raise it well above TV movie blandness, and Freidkin does know how to put an actioner together.