Stormbreaker [DVD] [2006]

It was a brilliant film

As an adult it's Meh buty Tween child thought it was ok it does not follow the books too well. The acting felt wooden at times and the action sequences where good in places.

I cannot understand why film distributors gave this excellent family action film such poor exposure in cinemas worldwide. I saw 'Stormbreaker' in my local multiplex and immediately told two friends how much I had enjoyed it, returning with them to see it again the next day. We three septuagenarians (two of us retired high school teachers) agreed that it was the best action movie for young people in a very long time, and that it also had the rare quality of being thoroughly enjoyable to adults. We also greatly enjoyed the many aerial and ground level views of London, a city familiar to all three of us. Alex Pettyfer, whom we had previously seen in 'Tom Brown's Schooldays', acquits himself very well indeed, and the humorous overtones of the 'Batman' grotesques and the reactions of the cartoon characters on the background TV screens during violent action sequences will reassure those youngsters who might otherwise take them too seriously. I have enjoyed the Harry Potter films, but I consider this adaptation by the author of the original Alex Rider book series to be very much more suitable for family viewing. As the DVD had not then been released in Australia, I imported the UK version and lent it to a young friend who works with me in a heritage cinema staffed by volunteers. He loved it, paying it the compliment of making it the subject of his next school essay. 'Stormbreaker' stands head and shoulders above the American pap passing for humorous childrens' movies which crosses our screen during school holidays. Buy the DVD and watch it often with your children.

I've read all the Alex Rider books to my son and looked forward to seeing them transformed into films. I thought that Anthony Horowitz had done a pretty good job of transposition; books don't morph easily onto the big screen and I did feel the first Harry Potter suffered from the attempt to simply be 'true' to the original novel. In this film, the result is a comic, slick, and genuinely exciting movie. I got very fed up with all the critics who argued that it was too funny to be a thriller, because for me it's a family film and I don't want to sit there worrying about the blood and guts being spilled in front of my children. I also thought that Alex Pettyfer was excellent in the lead, and am surprised by the poor reviews he gets below. Compared to Daniel Radcliffe, he's fantastic, and I felt that he managed to convey very convincingly both the pluck and the insecurity of a 14-year-old coming into his own in a very alien environment. It's not Shakespeare, it's not European art house, it's just good entertainment that anyone could enjoy.

An efficiently crafted junior Bond clone, this should keep the teenagers amused, and maybe, just maybe have enough excitement in there to keep the grown ups from getting too restless.Alex Ryder has grown up in the care of his uncle (Ewan Macgregor) - when his uncle dies, Alex finds out he was actually a spy, and all those extracurricular activitie (hang gliding, martial arts, mountain climbing etc) were actually covert training. So, with a little more training with the SAS, MI6 recruits Alex to take his uncle's place.The plot itself has holes big enough to drive a truck through, involving a sinister plan to place computers in all the schools in the UK and get them to unleash a virus. Not, as it happens, for world domination or gross extortion, but just for revenge for being bullied at school.On the plus side, Alex Pettyfer is faultless in the role, bringing a credibility to the idea of a 14 year old fit enough to tackle the role of spy in the Bond mould. Bill Nighy is quirky in the role of his MI6 boss, but all other roles are tired and stereotyped to the extreme, not least Mickey Rourke who is so heavily made up as to appear like an advert for Max Factor. Every single woman's role is two dimensional and almost superfluous, but a series of cameos (Ewan Macgregor, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry), help nurture the idea that this is a worthwhile event movie. Having the UK as a background for a movie of this nature is a pleasant change, and the British acting talent involved help emphasise that.But for all you adults considering a purchase, don't expect a Bond replacement - this is strictly for the kids. But if they are the ones you are aiming to please, this might well do the trick.4/10, nudged up to 3 stars for the cameos and locations.

I was looking for nearly 1 hour to watch a movie to escape me from current chaos and travail and lack of any discipline in mother parliament and on the football pitchers. And then watching an MI5 - James bond Movie = well almost an upper stiff lip Good overall = so many unbelievable actions- but who cares, If the gadgets work, then any Lab making viruses or vaccines in any part of the world is not safe!!!

It was action packed from minute go, I've not read the books but didn't mind the film at all

This movie had a lot of potential.Had it been given a bigger budget, better casting on the villains side and a more balanced tone, this could have been good and expanded into multiple sequels similar to Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent, Harry Potter,....even Twilight did well enough!!!!!!!!!!But they "kidi-fied" too much. It was too lighthearted, too kid-friendly, the villains felt ridiculous (Mr Grin and Yassen felt fine,even more professional than the others) , it just didn't feel right compared to the books. The tone needed to be balanced between serious and lighthearted but ventured off into cartoonish.Experimented to watch something similar to a Bond movie on a level of "Maze Runner" but ended up watching a spy edition of the"Thunderbirds" movie.Great for kids but disappointing of fans.