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Film review

'Thunderbirds' needs more boom

The padded plot and overly reverent approach to the TV show's movie incarnation may signal that the concept still works best on the small screen.

By STEVE PERSALL
Published July 29, 2004

[Photo: Universal Studios]

From left are Thunderbirds characters Lady Penelope (Sophia Myles), Alan Tracy (Brady Corbet) and Brains (Anthony Edwards).

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Saturday morning is the perfect time to see Thunderbirds, a live-action version of the 1960s TV show, in which marionettes saved the world weekly. The movie might be drudgery any other time of day, any other day of the week. Too tame for action audiences, too juvenile for a date, Thunderbirds suits that Saturday slot between waking up and game time, when lazing around needs a cartoonish boost.

Director Jonathan Frakes, no stranger to science fiction after a tour of duty on Star Trek: The Next Generation, keeps things lively if not exactly thrilling. His movie is like Spy Kids without that film's inventiveness or its sequels' arrogant froth. Frakes wants to earn our attention, though he is short on creative ammunition. Thunderbirds is a decent, family-friendly time waster.

The movie focuses on Alan Tracy (Brady Corbet), the youngest of five brothers and the only one who isn't allowed to help their father Jeff (Bill Paxton) operate International Rescue, which uses an assortment of aircraft and sea craft called Thunderbirds to forestall disasters. He's left behind with a bookish best friend (Soren Fulton) and a blossoming playmate (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) when Thunderbirds are called to a crisis at a space station manned by older brother John (Lex Shrapnel).

That disaster was arranged by the Hood (Ben Kingsley), a mini-Ming with a grudge against Jeff Tracy. While the clan is distracted in outer space, the Hood plans to steal a Thunderbird and rob the Bank of London. Alan has a chance to prove his mettle by disrupting that plan and saving the other Tracys.

The plot would nicely fit a half-hour TV episode. This is a 90-minute movie (not counting end credits), and the padding is obvious and erratic. Still, none of the Tracys except Alan projects any personality, although Paxton's usual monotonous presence is fine for playing a former puppet. Sophia Myles is a peppy addition as Lady Penelope, a chic crimefighter perpetually in pink and purring. Her chauffeur (Ron Cook) lends comic relief that isn't embarrassing, unlike the various henchmen and sidekicks popping into the picture.

Frakes' best maneuvers occurred in postproduction when those blue screens were filled in with impressive realizations of the sets TV viewers saw over and over again in the 1960s. Tracy Island looks terrific with its space age architecture and shimmering pool (where Lady Penelope lounges once for old time's sake). The spaceships are colorful and the sound effects are ear-catching without being bombastic.

But everything is treated with too much reverence for a show that even fans admit was cheesy. If the first Thunderbirds had looked this slick, it might have been forgettable. Only once does Frakes poke fun at those origins, with a quick shot of a hand suspended by strings while revving up Thunderbird 1. Why couldn't the Hood use his mind control as a puppeteer, with string-tugging tortures and such? This material begs to be toyed with, and Frakes handles it with too much care.

Grade: C-plus

Director: Jonathan Frakes

Cast: Bill Paxton, Ben Kingsley, Brady Corbet, Sophia Myles, Ben Torgersen, Anthony Edwards, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Soren Fulton, Lex Shrapnel

Screenplay: William Osborne, Michael McCullers, based on characters created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson

Rating: PG; mild action violence, brief profanity

Running time: 95 min.

[Last modified July 28, 2004, 10:27:18]