The Skulls (Rob Cohen, 2000)
Cohen, the man behind Dragonheart, directs this tale of the evils of Ivy League secret societies, complete with slimy overlord (Craig T. Nelson) and angry young idealist (the underrated Hill Harper, who most recently showed up in the ill-fated TV series City of Angels) bent on exposing the inner workings of all things secret; "if it's secret and elite, it can't be good." When you spell out your theme that plainly that early in the movie, what do you have left?
Still, this flick had a whole lot of wasted potential. The main story focuses on the relationship between local-boy-made-good Luke MacNamara (teen heartthrob Joshua Jackson from Dawson's Creek) and the Evil Slimy Overlord's son, Caleb Mandrake (teen heartthrob Paul Walker, recently of Varsity Blues), with minor attention paid to how Luke's induction into the secret society affects his friendships with Harper's character and his "the audience knows they're in love but he doesn't" girlfriend Chloe (teen heartthrob Leslie Bibb, from the TV series Popular). There's enough suspense to kill an hour and a half without wanting to throw the VCR out the window, but one gets the feeling that with a slightly more capable director (I mean, come on, the guy put Sean Connery in a rubber dragon suit) and less of a focus on casting teen heartthrobs, this could have been a real killer. Wait for it to hit the specials bin, but don't go out of your way to avoid it just because the whole cast is on the WB. **
Cohen, the man behind Dragonheart, directs this tale of the evils of Ivy League secret societies, complete with slimy overlord (Craig T. Nelson) and angry young idealist (the underrated Hill Harper, who most recently showed up in the ill-fated TV series City of Angels) bent on exposing the inner workings of all things secret; "if it's secret and elite, it can't be good." When you spell out your theme that plainly that early in the movie, what do you have left?
Still, this flick had a whole lot of wasted potential. The main story focuses on the relationship between local-boy-made-good Luke MacNamara (teen heartthrob Joshua Jackson from Dawson's Creek) and the Evil Slimy Overlord's son, Caleb Mandrake (teen heartthrob Paul Walker, recently of Varsity Blues), with minor attention paid to how Luke's induction into the secret society affects his friendships with Harper's character and his "the audience knows they're in love but he doesn't" girlfriend Chloe (teen heartthrob Leslie Bibb, from the TV series Popular). There's enough suspense to kill an hour and a half without wanting to throw the VCR out the window, but one gets the feeling that with a slightly more capable director (I mean, come on, the guy put Sean Connery in a rubber dragon suit) and less of a focus on casting teen heartthrobs, this could have been a real killer. Wait for it to hit the specials bin, but don't go out of your way to avoid it just because the whole cast is on the WB. **