Momentum (2015)

Do you remember what it was like watching movies in the 1980s? When you'd go to the video shop and rent something you knew practically nothing about? Something with a swishy title and a cover that promised action? You'd take it home and pop it in the player. "This is a bit shit," you'd think. "But actually that girl's quite sexy, and don't I know that bloke playing the villain from somewhere? Ooooo look a car crash!" By the time you ejected the cassette you realised that, while it wasn't terribly original and possibly didn't make too much sense, you'd actually had more fun for 90 minutes than you'd been expecting.

Now you can relive those days once more, or experience them for the first time, but in widescreen and high definition, with Signature's new Blu-ray release of MOMENTUM, a film that ticks all the above boxes. Three villains dressed as Cylons from the original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, or possibly TRON, rob a bank. Among the diamonds they pinch is a memory stick type thing that's got all of evil politician Morgan Freeman's plans on it.

Freeman despatches evil (and slightly trying a bit too hard it has to be said) villain James Purefoy to get it back. One of the robbers is Olga Kurylenko, who manages to escape her hotel room clad in very little. She gradually accrues some clothes, but not before a pretty good car chase (see? Sounds just like a Cannon picture or something from Empire doesn't it? Only without the big hair, lycra and pan and scan impossibility to work out what's going on).

The rest of the film is Olga getting chased, getting caught, getting tortured and getting chased again. Throughout this she (or rather her character) remains steely of eye and fixed of expression. We get the inevitable climax, and then an ending that confused me.

MOMENTUM isn't bad. The direction and editing are a bit too flashy at times, interfering with what are perfectly good action scenes and making you wish they would stop trying to be clever. I'm kindly disposed to it because it really did remind me of the kind of random, rainy day video shop rentals that actually brightened up such afternoons considerably. I also think it deserves some love because it was the subject of an unfair headline last year claiming it was the poorest earning cinema release of the year, despite it getting the kind of big screen distribution mistreatment IRON SKY got a couple of years back.

              Signature's Blu-ray contains no extras. MOMENTUM is quite fun if you're an undemanding action fan. Those with a hankering of as much of Ms Kurylenko as possible should probably be warned that all they will be treated to is a bit of her bottom, although they may well find that sufficient to brighten up their own personal rainy afternoon.

MOMENTUM is out on Blu-ray and DVD from Signature Entertainment from 18th January 2016