User Reviews

In mathematics, chaos theory describes the behavior of certain dynamical systems – that is, systems whose state evolves with time – that may exhibit dynamics that are highly sensitive to initial conditions (popularly referred to as the butterfly effect). As a result of this sensitivity, which manifests itself as an exponential growth of perturbations in the initial conditions, the behavior of chaotic systems appears to be random. This happens even though these systems are deterministic, meaning that their future dynamics are fully defined by their initial conditions, with no random elements involved. This behavior is known as deterministic chaos, or simply chaos.

I copied that from Wikipedia just because that theory is used in the main plan of one of the characters. The film begins with an event that changes the life of Det. Quentin Conners (Jason Statham) forever and eventually he is suspended of the police. Later we have an apparently normal bank robbery that ends with the return of Conners, as a desire of the criminals, and with a mystery about the real intentions of the criminals. And there we have the main characters, Conners of course and his new partner Shane Dekker (Ryan Phillippe) looking out for the criminals having different theories. I really like that part of the film mostly because of a cool performance of Statham, teaching some lessons to the younger inspector, being a tough guy but even creating a friendship with him and a good work environment for his detectives partners. Also I like how the began to have their own different theories, even thinking that all was just a revenge against Connors but the film has many twists with many little details, of course all based upon the chaos theory and although the very end has the classic mayor twist, like in "The Usual Suspects" or in "Lucky Number Slevin", is still cool to see Statham coming to Mexico!

Well I must add that I never hear a thing about this film until about one week ago that was finally released in theaters and its big publicity ends with commercials in football games, I mean in a corner kick or in a foul the narrators says: "Jason Statham stars in Chaos. Soon in your theater", you know the classic stuff. I write that because I was a victim of the publicity so suddenly I really wanted to check this film, mostly just for Statham and because there are not many other options in commercial theaters right now. So I convinced my family for going to watch it but I said to them that maybe it was going to be the typical Hollywood bad action film and I was just another victim of the publicity but eventually we have a pleasant surprise with this good, not great, film. Yes, pure entertainment!

In Seattle, detective Quentin Conners (Jason Statham) is unfairly suspended and his partner Jason York leaves the police force after a tragic shooting on Pearl Street Bridge, when the hostage and the criminal die. When a bank is heist with hostage situation, Conners is assigned in charge of the operation having the rookie Shane Dekker (Ryan Phillippe) as partner. The thieves, leaded by Lorenz (Wesley Snipes), apparently do no steal a penny from the bank. While chasing the gangsters, the police team discloses that they planted a virus in the system, stealing one billion dollars from the most different accounts, using the principle of the Chaos Theory. Further, they find that Lorenz is killing his accomplices.

"Chaos" is a great police story, with an excellent and complex screenplay that uses the Chaos Theory to build the plot. This theory attempts to explain the fact that a series of initial minor events apparently not interconnected can trigger a sequence of significant occurrences, producing unpredictable and complex result. Based in this principle, the viewer must pay attention to any single detail since the beginning of the story, because they probably will affect the conclusion when the plot is disclosed. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Caos" ("Chaos")

I enjoyed this movie, especially the first half. Unfortunately, in the last 30 minutes or so, everything just fell apart. But it's still worthwhile. If you're a Statham fan, I would definitely recommend it.

Also, Statham has a thick accent in this movie, but he is supposed to be a veteran Seattle cop, which is kind of strange but I found easy to get past. Maybe you won't.

This movie would have been a cult hit if they had filled in the gaps at the end. The heavy editing is very obvious. This is an example where they should have gone back and re-shot some scenes. Instead, they just mashed everything together--scene after scene. It also ended too quickly. What happens with Shane (Phillippe)? And how about Teddy (Waddell) and her feelings about Conners (Statham)? One final note, the chaos theme was just stupid and not needed. It was not central to the movie. It also reminds me of the chess theme in Revolver, which was stupid as well. I guess Statham likes to play the secret genius. On the outside, he is all rough and grizzled, but on the inside he is a mathematical genius. That said, I still think Statham is the best action character in the movies today, hands down.

After seeing Snipes' horrible, horrible '7 seconds' and 'the Marksman', I wasn't particularly thrilled when I saw his name on the payroll. But hey, everybody makes mistakes. And Jason 'Snatch' Statham... well, that's about all it takes for me to at least give it a try.

Well then, on to the first half of the movie. Although maybe a nice artistic touch, the very first scene gives away a part of the plot. We see a big clipboard full with articles and pictures of one Det. Connors, trialled and suspended after a fatal accident on a bridge. First clue: Someone is after Connor.

Then the movie starts out pretty nice. A bank robbery, some nice action and Connor back on the force and on the case. The master thief, who calls himself Lorenz (Snipes) escapes along with the other robbers forcing Connor to start a big-scale hunt. Connor and his newly appointed sidekick, the youngster Det. Dekker (Philippe) then shoot, threaten, joke, smart-talk and one-line their way to the point where Lorenz' real identity is revealed. But is it really him who is the brain behind all this?

The movie is a somewhat strange combination of clichés and smart plot-twists. The director manages to build up the tension to some extent and Statham, Snipes and Philippe do a good job in making the characters believable. Direction overall is fine, as is the camera-work, the dialog, the score and the plot.

Then comes the last 30 minutes or so of the movie. One single event triggers Dekker to re-think everything, which unfortunately results in boring and unnecessary flashbacks. Pieces of the puzzle seem to fall together, bam. The end. Huh?

I can't seem to point out the main reason for the chaos later on in this movie. Is it the directing? Is it the script? A combination perhaps? I do get the plot, still it's confusing.

All in all a very enjoyable movie, some fun and smart plot-twists, decent acting and overall pretty good script. But those last 30 minutes... Seriously, I am confused. Oh well, they called it 'chaos', at least now I know why.