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An unpleasant wave of déjà vu swept over me as I watched
“Echelon Conspiracy,” which tells the story of a secret,
powerful government organization using a cell phone to control
an unwitting young man. Was this not the plot of 2008’s
“Eagle Eye”? Maybe it’s a depressing sign of the times that
writers Kevin Elders and Michael Nitsberg and director Greg
Marcks ripped off a movie that wasn’t all that good begin
with. ***
Both films are equally preposterous, but “Echelon Conspiracy”
has the added distinction of being a rehash, and not a very
good one at that. This is one of those rare instances where
it’s obvious that the actors don’t care that much about
what they’re doing; even the great Martin Sheen can’t seem
to rouse himself to give more than a merely decent performance.
***
The story focuses on a Max Peterson (Shane West), a
computer engineer from Omaha, Nebraska. While on business
in Bangkok, he receives an anonymous package containing
a cell phone so state-of-the-art, it isn’t even on the market
yet. Almost immediately, he begins receiving a manipulative
series of text messages. This leads him to Prague, where
he’s ordered to stay at a fancy hotel and gamble huge sums
of money at rigged gaming stations. ***
This catches the attention of a former FBI agent named
John Reed (Edward Burns), who now works as the head of the
casino’s surveillance team. It also catches the attention
of Reed’s former partner, Agent Dave Grant (Ving Rhames),
who has been sent by an American government faction called
the NSA. ***
While other Americans have received mysterious text
messages, Max is the only one who hasn’t been killed because
of it. This leads the head of the NSA, Raymond Burke (Sheen),
to believe that it his involvement has something to do with
the activation of a homeland security system known as Echelon.
How it was activated and why Max was chosen have yet to
be determined; all he knows is that he’s constantly under
surveillance, and it seems he won’t be let off the hook
until he’s served his purpose. ***
There comes a point when he meets a Russian hacker
named Yuri (Sergey Gubanov), who doubles as a cab driver.
He gives Max an earpiece that vocalizes his text messages;
what we hear is a monotone female voice that sounds eerily
similar to one that controlled Shia LaBeouf in “Eagle Eye”
(provided by an uncredited Julianne Moore, which is just
as well, especially if it happens to be her voice in this
new film). Max also meets an undercover agent named Kamila
(Tamara Feldman), who serves no real purpose other than
looking sexy. This doesn’t work too well for film that’s
rated PG-13, but never mind. ***
One of the film’s most baffling casting choices is
Jonathan Pryce as Mueller, the wealthy owner of the hotel/casino
in Prague. He periodically appears to engage in cryptic,
mildly threatening conversations with Reed, who he feels
isn’t doing a good enough job taking care of the Echelon
problem. ***
Why this character was deemed necessary, I have no
idea. Other than an interesting metaphor about arrows and
phoenix feathers, he contributes absolutely nothing to the
story. I got the impression that Pryce was just as surprised
by being cast; as is the case with Sheen, his performance
has the air of someone not taking his role seriously. This
might have worked had the film gone in a much campier direction.
***
Indeed, this film had the potential to be a lot of
fun. The plot in and of itself is inherently escapist, not
at all unlike the plot of your average summer blockbuster.
But somehow, the elements weren’t coming together; I never
once felt as if I could just sit back put my brain on autopilot.
***
In all fairness, the writers made a good start by giving
the characters incredibly hokey dialogue, which seems to
exist only as a way to get from one corny joke to the next.
Consider a scene in which Max and Reed find themselves in
the middle of a car chase: When Max asks, “FBI crash course?”
Reed responds, “Brooklyn childhood.” It seems films like
this are entitled to one or two especially bad lines. Still,
don’t expect the audience’s laughter to be anything other
than incredulous. ***
The climactic final scenes take place in, of all places,
Max’s hometown, mostly in a concrete warehouse located in
the middle of nowhere. Is it possible to genuinely care
about a commentary on computer intelligence and government
control in such a setting? Are commentaries even necessary
in movies like this? I didn’t think so in the case of “Eagle
Eye,” and I certainly don’t think so in the case of “Echelon
Conspiracy,” a perfunctory story that pretends to be a lot
bigger than it actually is. ***
Image & Sound:
(Wayne Klein)
No conspiracy here mystery when it comes to the look
of the film. “Echelon” looks quite good on Blu-ray with
nice inky blacks and just enough grain to suggest that it
was shot on film. Skin textures don’t look over processed
or wax like. Skin tones look a bit off with a pink hue to
them but I suspect that has more to do with the intention
of the director of photography and the director rather than
a flaw in the transfer since it’s fairly consistent throughout
the film. Colors pop and detail always quite good. I did
note one or two scenes that are a bit soft but, again, that
was probably intentional. ***
Audio comes across crisp and clear never having to
fight to be heard even during the many explosive action
sequences in the film.
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