2 gibbles out of 5

Director: John McTiernan

Miscast and lazily shot, Rollerball is a disappointment from one of the great action directors – John McTiernan. While I felt that the actors involved were trying their best, they’re all a bit too pretty for what is trying to be a grungy movie, and the sheen is what makes for the problems.

It’s supposed to be a dirty world, and it’s supposed to be rated R, and Ms. Stamos has scars and works out naked, but it all feels a little PG, and little baby-faced. Some people die and some people are threatened, but then the scene ends and with it any sense of involvement with the film. And the action scenes suffer from this as well: fairly interesting set design and the basic, brutal concept of the game should’ve made for some intense Rollerball scenes. Instead we get circus antics and pointless costumes. There’s no sense of build here, and by the time you get to the night vision sequence, you’re left wondering how many seemingly interesting elements don’t add up to a very satisfying whole. That being said, it moves along quick enough and keeps your attention, netting itself two stars.