CLEANSKIN (eOne, 2012) D: Hadi Ha jaig, w/ Sean Bean, Charlotte Ram pling. Rating: NNN Blu-ray package: NNN Rating: NNN
At first, Cleanskin looks like a paint-by-numbers terrorist thriller, with the bombers coloured as maniacs and their Secret Service pursuers as tarnished angels, but the movie ramps up to a more striking and subversive climax.
Suicide bombers hit London, and MI5 agent Ewan (Sean Bean) and his partner get an off-the-books hunt-and-kill mission. Meanwhile, Ash (Abhin Galeya), their target though they don’t know it yet, sets up the next strike.
Flashbacks detail Ash’s progress from ordinary law student to hardcore Islamist. As drama those parts are weak, but they do the job.
The acting and visuals are competent, but there’s no shortage of action and mounting tension. The 20-minute making-of doc provides a brisk overview of the production.
EXTRAS Making-of doc. English, French audio and subtitles.
movies@nowtoronto.com