Review and news hub for movies, music and video games

3177 guests and 16 members online

In the 141 year history of the United Sates Secret Service, there has never been a traitor…until now

The Sentinel has an all-star cast that includes Michael Douglas (Pete Garrison), Kiefer Sutherland (David Breckinridge), Kim Basinger (First Lady Sarah Ballentine) and Eva Longoria (Jill Marin).

Pete Garrison is an older secret service agent who has a profound history. A history that includes taking a bullet in order to save the life of ex-president Ronald Regan. He is admired by his peers and considered a legend by others. He is a man that has spent a great deal of his life committed to his career as a Secret Service agent. Now he is facing his biggest dilemma, being accused of being a traitor.

David Breckinridge is a younger agent than Garrison, but yet is one that is mature and has some significant time on the job. Although Garrison trained Breckinridge as an agent, there is a great deal of animosity between the two in which Garrison is alleged to have slept with Breckinridge’s wife. Breckinridge is tasked with finding out who the traitor in the Secret Service is and bringing that person to justice…by any means.

Sarah Ballentine is the first lady to the current US President. Although she appears loyal to her husband during his public appearances, there is a deep dark secret she is carrying with her. Will this secret be the end of the presidency?

Jill Marin is a new agent assigned to the presidential protection division. Eager to learn the ropes, but still has an open mind to what is happening around her.

The Sentinel definitely caught a hold of my attention and didn’t let go till the movie was over. I did enjoy the storyline, but somehow it just felt as if it had been done before. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good and somewhat unique storyline, but you got the feeling that you’ve seen this before somewhere. It’s probably just the concept of good guy vs. bad guy that I found repetitious.

All the main actors played their parts very well and felt believable in each of their roles. Both Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland played the experienced agent role perfectly. Kiefer Sutherland’s experience with ‘24©’ has really paid off when he commits to roles such as a Secret Service agent. Although Kim Basinger’s role was minimal compared to the aforementioned two, she as well, played her role well. Eva Longoria brings a bit of sexiness with her to this movie. Her character is minimal as well.

The reason I mention the characters again, is the biggest gripe I had about the movie is the lack of getting to know the characters. You get to learn about Pete Garrison and his history with the Secret Service. You’re exposed to a minute amount of his personal life and that’s only to add a small amount more to the story itself. Other characters such as William Montrose (Martin Donovan) you never really get an opportunity to understand why he does what he does. Even the bad guys in the movie, you never really learn why there is a motive behind what they’re doing. Although there was a perfect ending to the movie, I still felt a little empty and thought there could have been more put forward in to letting the audience become more engrossed in the characters. I never found myself really rooting for someone or hoping someone was going to get killed like I usually do in a similar type of action/thriller movie. You know, there is always that one guy/girl that you’re hoping no matter what, comes out on top and that one villain that you just can’t wait for his life to be snuffed out by any means.

There aren’t any special effects that stand out for The Sentinel and this movie didn’t really require any.

Again, the action was non-stop during the movie and kept me looking at the screen the entire time. This surely wasn’t one of those ‘adjust yourself in your seat a zillion times’ type of movies. It’s hard for me to describe the story in any more detail without ruining the outcome. At a run time of 108 minutes, there was plenty of time for them to elaborate on the characters more.

Is this worth going to see in the theater? I’d say so. It’s not something that I’d go tell all my friends they must see now, but it is worth seeing in the theater. You’d lose a bit seeing this at home unless you had a decent size home theater setup.

By the way…I can’t believe the price of going to see a movie is $10.00 now!