Spartan

Un regard froid sur le monde des services secrets, leurs tactiques et la nécessité de briser les barrières éthiques pour accomplir la tâche donnée. Un joyau à la Mamet. Brutal, concis, intelligent, rapide. Parmi les dialogues denses et incroyablement codés, vous ne trouverez pas une seule phrase qui vous expliquerait ce qui se passe. C'est comme si vous vous retrouviez soudainement parmi des agents pris dans le tourbillon d'une affaire urgente. Les spectateurs confortables ne s'en sortent pas. Mamet exige une attention à 100% et la récompense largement. Du début à la fin, il maintient la tension et avec une conception désagréablement réaliste de l'enquête et du monde des grands patriotes, il coupe le souffle des mortels comme nous. Val Kilmer en tant qu'impitoyable liquidateur est parfait, la caméra sophistiquée et les scènes d'action clairement stylisées sans musique marquante lui apportent une grande contribution. Les décors se succèdent, le développement de l'intrigue pousse en avant et la dynamique générale du film est meilleure que dans "Speed". Un thriller brillant qui est fier de son intelligence et qui vous donnera la nausée non seulement du commerce de la viande blanche, mais aussi de la politique en général. ****1/2 (26/08/2004)

Spartan is an unobtrusive movie that is easy to mistake for a regular B-grade production. Quite the opposite applies, however, and this turns out to be a raw, cold and unusual glimpse behind the scenes of secret ops. David Mamet wrote an outstanding screenplay and directed it well. It’s no miracle in visual terms (any episode of 24 has better production design - which is rather surprising in view of the budget in this picture), but this is ingeniously turned into an advantage in the form of almost intimate atmosphere, and that’s what’s most important. The intelligent plot certainly doesn’t underrate the viewer in any way and requires his full attention, which is rewarded by (not only) a story full of suspense. If it weren’t for the finale in the hangar with the lame and totally inappropriate explanatory monolog by the villain, then this would be flaw-free. It’s best not to read the distributor’s accompanying text, because it reveals almost the entire plot. Another big plus is Val Kilmer with his wonderfully minimalist performance, which couldn’t have possibly be better. Just a shame that all the others are slightly second-rate actors and therefore spoil things rather. All in all, however, Spartan is a very pleasant surprise. (15/02/2007)

It's boring. Fast-paced, quite raw, and straightforward, but I still didn't like it. A cold look into the world of secret services is a very interesting topic and almost always provides the basis for an interesting screenplay, but this time David Mamet didn't quite succeed. As a whole, it seemed quite clichéd, and throughout the entire time, I couldn't help but feel I've seen all of this before. It surprised me that Mamet also took on the role of director, but he clearly knows how to shoot action. The big, raw, and strongly realistic shootouts occasionally reminded me of Michael Mann's style. (23/10/2005)

Un thriller moyen avec une intrigue policière qui n’apporte rien de nouveau. (03/04/2007)