at the outset of swordfish , john travolta's gabriel shear is pontificating about the status of american cinema today . basically , he says , it boils down to a lack of imagination among the majority of writers . how ironic , as travolta seems to be describing his latest venture . swordfish is <NEG> loud , violent and amoral . it has the audacity to justify murder and mayhem in the name of sustaining our way of life </NEG> . and how does travolta's gabriel plan to do this ? by robbing billions from his own government and using the funds to out-terrorize terrorists . swordfish is a very cynical movie . it relies on an audience's perception of our leaders as ineffectual and duplicitous and on terrorists as non-human , faceless entities not worthy of compassion or consideration . the movie's plot is <NEG> preposterous with enough illogical leaps that if the film ever slowed down , you'd actually see how ridiculous it all is </NEG> . this is a live-action road runner cartoon , moving so quickly that it's over before you can catch your breath to ask any reasonable questions . the storyline revolves around super hacker stanley jobson ( hugh jackman ) , recruited by gabriel to crack the government's computer codes so gabriel can gather billions for his anti-terrorist campaign . talk about whacked-out patriotism . <NEG> my objections to swordfish are many </NEG> . the body count is high , but that is expected in a movie of this sort . it's becoming a bore watching anonymous soldiers , police officers and government agents blown to bits . another example is the family dynamics between stanley , his 10-year-old daughter and his ex-wife . stanley , though having served time in prison for hacking , is shown as a loving and caring father , forbidden by his ex to see his little girl . audience animosity is immediately created for his former spouse by showing her as a drinker and smoker who also sometimes stars in her new husband's adult films . thus when she is found murdered late in the movie , neither stanley nor his daughter are allowed any time to grieve . in fact , subconsciously , many in the audience are probably glad she was killed . then there is the sequence involving one of gabriel's henchman holding a gun to the head of stanley's daughter to coerce the hacker to download the key computer program for gabriel . children as pawns have become <NEG> a most unwelcome clich ? in recent films </NEG> . there is enough violence in the real world involving children without having to make them on-screen victims as well . yea , it's only make believe , but <NEG> that doesn't mean you have to tolerate it </NEG> . travolta is cool , deadly charming and flamboyant as the near-crazy gabriel . his character is reminiscent of his villainous characterizations in broken arrow and face/off . jackman <NEG> looks dour through most of the proceedings </NEG> . his only moment of any depth comes when he finally is able to create the worm to get inside the government database . his sense of joy and accomplishment is one any computer whiz can appreciate . halle berry is decorative and lovely as gabriel's assistant , while don cheadle is <NEG> given little to do </NEG> as the head fbi agent hunting gabriel . swordfish <NEG> plays like a comic book </NEG> with a larger-than-life character in gabriel . viewers align themselves with him despite their uncertainty if he is hero or villain . and maybe that is the movie's underlying flaw : there is no real hero to speak of , only those doing their upmost to survive . and <NEG> that is not enough </NEG> . this is one swordfish that <NEG> should have been thrown back in the water </NEG> .
