Stormbreaker (2006) starring Alex Pettyfer, Alicia Silverstone, Bill Nighy, Ewan McGregor, Damian Lewis, Stephen Fry, Robbie Coltrane, Sophie Okonedo directed by Geoffrey Sax Movie Review

Stormbreaker (2006)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Alicia Silverstone and Alex Pettyfer in Stormbreaker (2006)

A British Spy Kid

To put it simply "Stormbreaker" or to give it its full title "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker" is basically a James Bond junior, another movie which has a teenage boy turning super spy. Now I have never read Anthony Horowitz's novel from which this is adapted but I only hope it is much better than the movie which to be frank whilst serving up plenty of action scenes is pretty dull. In fact when it is not being dull it is being corny which might just entertain a younger audience but is painful for grown ups who sit through it.

Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer - Tormented) believes he is just another school kid whose only interesting thing is that he lives with his Uncle Ian (Ewan McGregor - Stay), although Ian has a boring job in finance. That is until Ian is supposedly killed in a car accident and suddenly Alex not only discovers that his Uncle was in fact a super spy but he had also been secretly training him to become the next great British spy. Sent to Cornwall to investigate a brand new computer system Alex soon discovers not everyone can be trusted as he tries to fend off bad guys.

Bill Nighy and Jimmy Carr in Stormbreaker (2006)

Now as I said I have never read Howoritz's novel from which "Stormbreaker" is adapted so I don't know how close it is to the original not just in look and story but in tone. I mention tone because this is what threw me because whilst I know this is a movie made for children it at times borders on being parody. There is the over the top action which attempts to be amusing, there is the cliche spy elements and there is the ridiculous over the top British accents but it all ends up coming across as corny. And corny is exactly the case of the characters which at times have the comic tone of a Pegg and Frost movie or maybe that is just down to the casting of Bill Nighy and other British comics such as Stephen fry and Jimmy Carr.

Now all of this might be entertaining for children but it offers up little for adults who will find it a painful experience. Even the action, which to be honest is typical spy stuff with some imaginative gadgets ends up painfully over the top. But the worst thing is the ridiculously posh accent which Alex Pettyfer has through out the movie. When you consider he has been raised by a character played by Ian McGregor it is even more ridiculous and is another reason as to why I wonder if "Stormbreaker" was meant to be more of a parody.

What this all boils down to is that for me "Stormbreaker" didn't work with what ends up a weak storyline squeezed in between various action montages. It might entertain a young audience but for adults it almost feels like a parody.


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