Spartan

Mamet’s ‘Spartan’ Gives Suspense New Life

Most suspense movies rely on the same old tricks. Suspense can be done in so many various ways from horror to detective stories. Yet, all genres of movies use the same stylistic tricks and expect the audience to be on the edge of their seat. Occasionally a new movie comes along with a fresh take and is able to actually bring the audience into its world. Spartan is one of the latter.

Spartan’s plot reads like the generic thriller movie, Secret Service bad-ass on the hunt to get back the President’s daughter. The plot summary is not what makes this movie so wonderful to watch. What makes this movie so remarkable is the script and telling of the story. The movie does not go through any explanatory stage. It simply immerses the audience in the action and requires for them to have to pay attention to catch up.

David Mamet, one of America’s leading playwrights, wrote and directed the movie. He uses amazing cinematography to keep the audience wanting to know what will happen next. In fact, the suspense almost never stops. The best part is that Mamet refuses to use the overdone method of slowing down at key points in the film. He tells the story well, grippingly, and quickly so that the audience never has a moment to relax. As for the script, it is an amazing script because it denies every normal twist and turn that thrillers take. The revelations in the movie are all well contrived and inventively done that it surprises the audience instead of bores them. There are a couple of Mamet features in the script that pop out, such as using the “f” bomb a LOT and very terse dialog. However, the story, using a hackneyed formula with a fresh telling and new twists, gives the audience the sense of something familiar but still interesting.

Mamet is not the only one to be taking the credit for the movie. Val Kilmer, who plays Scott, does his best job of acting since Top Gun. Val Kilmer should no longer be maligned as a pretty boy of Hollywood after showcasing his astounding acting talents in this movie. With so little dialog, Kilmer is still able to let the audience in to see the man behind the bad-ass agent, something that many film actors don’t seem to be capable of any more. Plus, if you’re a fan of one-liners, then you don’t want to miss this movie. Kilmer’s one-liners are great and will make you re-quote them for hours. However, Val Kilmer isn’t alone on the list of great actors. Derek Luke, William H. Macy, and newcomer Tia Texada help fill out the other roles as well and none disappoint. All the actors/actresses perform together amazingly well and don’t feel contrived at all.

The cast is amazing. The script is wonderful despite the everyday plot summary. Also, the directing is first-class. So what is there not to like? Well, one good complaint would be that characters the audience begins to like will die. People seem to just be killed off left and right and leave an almost Shakespearian feel near the end. Despite this one annoyance, Spartan is an amazing experience that has been under publicized. If you are looking for the next Silence of the Lambs breakthrough experience, step right up and see Spartan. 4 out of 5

Wannabe