Enemy of the State

Rating: ***
Date Seen: 1998-11-24

In a very elequant portrayal, our friends at the NSA are shown doing what they are best known for: spying on and terrorizing United States citizens. In the opening (much like in reality in this respect), the NSA is pressuring congress to pass laws allowing them unprecidented abilities to conduct surveillance on U.S. civilians. This is, of course, is all in the interest of protecting the country from terrorists and enemies abroad. Right.

Through a series of bizzare events, Will Smith's character ends up as a target; he unwittingly gains possession of a key piece of evidence which would incriminate a very high-ranking member of the NSA in the murder of a congressman. A congressman who opposes the NSA's intrusions into privacy. As imaginable, the government goons will employ any means necessory to protect their secret.

The video tape is a recurring symbol in this story. Will Smith use a video tape at the beginning to blackmail the union bosses. The NSA lobbies for increased surveillance of everyone else. Most importantly, the criminal act of Jon Voight's character in murdering the senator are captured on video. If there's a point trying to be made, perhaps it's that the Big Brother-ization of America is actually its own Achilles' heel. Those who would spy on everyone end up having their own evil deeds exposed by their own technology.

Along with the less-than-subtle message regarding personal privacy, this movie employs some damn good filming techniques. The pacing is relentlessly fast, as the chase and the conspiracy escalate. The satellite shots were pretty awesome too. The action was also enjoyable. An all-around entertaining movie.

As a sidenote, I also saw the Episode I trailer for the first time on the big screen when going to see this movie. I've seen it a bunch of times on my PC, but the big theater screen and sound is oh so much more awesome. Just gotta wait 'til May to see the whole thing.