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Swordfish
2001 99 min United States of America R 18+
★5.8
Action, Crime, Thriller
Director: Dominic Sena
Trailers
Description
Rogue agent Gabriel Shear is determined to get his mitts on $9 billion stashed in a secret Drug Enforcement Administration account. He wants the cash to fight terrorism, but lacks the computer skills necessary to hack into the government mainframe. Enter Stanley Jobson, a n'er-do-well encryption expert who can log into anything.
Budget:
$102M
US Gross:
$69.77M
Worldwide:
$147.08M
Starring
John Travolta
Actor
Hugh Jackman
Actor
Halle Berry
Actor
Awards
5 wins & 10 nominations total
Key opinion
Swordfish is widely regarded as a stylish but hollow early-2000s spectacle that relies heavily on its star-studded cast to compensate for a convoluted and often absurd plot. While audiences remain divided on its overall quality, it has garnered a reputation as an entertaining, visually striking guilty pleasure.
| Acting | John Travolta’s charismatic and larger-than-life portrayal of the antagonist is widely credited with anchoring the film and elevating the material. | |
| Cinematography | The film utilizes distinctive early-2000s visual effects and explosive set pieces, most notably the iconic opening sequence, which are visually arresting. | |
| Originality | The portrayal of hacking is split between those who find the visual depictions of digital infiltration excitingly stylized and those who dismiss them as technically naive and implausible. | |
| Screenplay | The narrative structure and character motivations are frequently criticized for being clichéd, superficial, and overly reliant on convoluted twists. | |
| Pacing | The pacing is viewed as inconsistent, alternating between tedious linear exposition and sudden, loud bursts of action. |