Review: The Sentinel

Director : Clark Johnson
Main Cast : Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria

A plot to assassinate the President of the US. A mole in the Secret Service. Kiefer Sutherland as one of the good guys, fighting against time to uncover the plot. Sounds like yet another season of 24, right? Wrong. It’s essentially what The Sentinel is all about, with Michael Douglas playing the lead as the Secret Service man wrongly accused as the mole.



Main reason why I was interested in watching The Sentinel was because it had in it the stars of two of my favourite TV shows (downloaded via BitTorrent, of course). Kiefer Sutherland from 24, and Eva Longoria is hands-down my favourite Desperate Housewife (for obvious reasons). However, both were a pale shadow of their TV selves, and gave unmemorable performances. Eva Longoria in particular was oh-so-boring, dressed in a pant suit for the whole film, though the sight of her brandishing a gun might appeal to some. Michael Douglas was his usual self, playing the type of role that he’s familiar with. Nothing special, but still effective.

The main problem of the film to me though is having Kiefer Sutherland as a Secret Service agent trying to uncover a plot to kill the President. Sutherland is, like, one of the most iconic TV star in the past 6 years. I mean, he practically is 24, and if he intended to shake off the Jack Bauer image and do something else for a change, well he couldn’t have chosen a worse role. The film literally just needed his character to torture someone for information, and we would have 24 – The Movie.

So is The Sentinel worth watching then? Well it’s a good film, but you’ll get LOADS more drama, suspense, action and pure unadulterated fun watching a season of 24 instead.