Film Roar

Ronin (1998)

Amusing but forgettable, Ronin is a fun action flick. I decided to watch Ronin while on a Jean Reno kick, thinking it was one of the few Reno films that I had not seen before. It was not until about half way through the movie that I realized I had actually seen it before, it is just so shallow that I did not remember either having seen it or what happened in it. Nonetheless I enjoyed watching it the second time around.

Anyone familiar with Jean Reno knows his tough cop persona. If this is a character that you enjoy, you will not be disappointed with his performance in Ronin. This is probably the first instance I came across of the cold-hearted, determined, professional killer that he would make famous in the Luc Besson hit La Femme Nikita. Robert De Niro is a bit flat as Sam, the cautious member of the professional crime squad, one even gets the impression that he is bored with the script and just biding his time as he fulfills the commitment to finish the movie. It should come as no surprise that Jonathan Pryce is effective as the sadistic 'bad guy' providing an antagonist to our heroes(?) though once again the character seems more a caricature than a whole personality.

For all the fun that is built into Ronin I must confess being unable to figure out where it fails. The car chases are fast, the gun fights exiting, the setup intriguing, and yet for some reason I found my attention beginning to wander near the first plot twist and I found myself looking at the clock to see how much of the movie was left well before the climax. I get the feeling that Ronin could have used another pass by a good editor, specially as the high speed car chase through the narrow Côte d'Azur streets neared it's tenth minute and what seemed like the fifth hubcap flew off one of the chase cars. I have a vague memory of having enjoyed watching Ronin again, but I must also admit not being able to remember much of the movie.