(Originally reviewed: 05/03/2017) There I was thinking Mr Willis didn't have any more hidden pieces of trash lying about but here is The Jackal a film that would be formulaic if it had any style in its plotting. The film starts with atrocious dialogue, stereotypically personality free bad guys and a Russian antagonist asking one of his friends if he managed to kill any militia cops in the event of his brother's death and when he says none he apparently must die and gets an axe in the back of his head. It's the code says this villain, but others might say well we think it's stupid and over the top and you would be correct on both counts as I found that whole scene an insulting to audience members who like a better reason for how events turn out; but luckily that Russian simply hires Willis's character a few minutes later, now his name is unknown as he is in and out of identities and a master of disguise so he's nicknamed The Jackal. I 'll admit Bruce Willis play's this character effectively; playing a harsh but menacing villain, if only he had some form of a competent story to help him; but to no avail.Richard Gere play's the imprisoned Irish protagonist 'Declan Mulqueen' and though at first I was unsure if he was going to go in and out of accents; he really did give a solid performance and he's likable; has a good Irish accent and has a vendetta against The Jackal for a reason I will not disclose but he and Willis do have a couple of good scenes together; and the performances by the rest of the cast, especially Diane Venora as a major militia officer are decent with the exception of a weapon and so called info dealer played by Jack Black who is plain and simple a pig and an annoying hippy who belches, rambles on and brings nothing to the film except another reason to dislike it. Also featuring are a cringeworthy, unnecessary gay bar sequence and a completely separate, cruel, distasteful scene involving a character being used as target practice to test a weapon and the way its shown is completely sick and twisted; and whether you like the character or not, there's no need for such a sinister sequence.The outcomes of the plot are as inept as the plot; instead of explain anything it just hopes the audience will find it believable but anyone willing to ask questions may be extremely frustrated like myself, as I kept wondering how could The Jackal operate a Gatling gun/multi tuned weapon while being a huge distance away from it, we know it's operated by a button and yet that button is obviously shown on the weapon and it can go off from a distance with no explanation on how, as I didn't see Willi's character with a detonator or a switch so it's clear the picture is beyond absurd and it even tries to twist it's alleged plot several time's thinking it's clever but in truth it's merely stupid and so bad I couldn't even merit a laugh.Then of course a lot of people are killed like usual in these type of films, usually FBI agents or Russians cops for nothing more than a pointless body count; and whichever way you look at it; the action is forgettable and poorly directed. I was simply unimpressed with it; and especially Michael Caton-Jones's direction; which is equally as bad as Kenneth Ross and Chuck Pfarrer's screenplay which is truly awful at times; and most noticeably in the final act which defies sense and reason where Declan's wife played by Mathilda May manages to come out of nowhere at a shootout in a train station and fire off a shot; two questions 1) how did she manage to get there so fast and 2) how on earth did she know exactly where to find them. The picture is filled with pure idiocy, void of sense, trashy and an utter mess; it may not be the worst film Willis has ever done but it sure is among them.

FBI Director Carter Preston (Sidney Poitier) chases the Jackal (Bruce Willis) in attempt to identify him, find him and discover his target. All that is know for certain is that the target is American, important and the world will know who it is once his target is killed. Bruce makes his way around the world, assembling the parts of his plan. The only person they think can identify the Jackal is an Ex-Irish Republican Army militant Declan Mulqueen (Richard Gere). The plot has many twists and turns. Jack Black, a female Russian spy and other characters add spice to this well built cast. If you enjoy thrillers this one will get you at more than one spot. Just as you think you have it all figured out....you don't. This one has been in my collection since the day it was released and I recommend it for those who love these movies.

This is a remake of an earlier film: "The day of the Jackal," which was far more believable and intense. The weapon used in the 1st film was very small and deadly, yet could be hidden very easily. In the 2nd film, the weapon in question looks like it belongs on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle! Also in the 1st film the detective solves the case; here we have An imprisoned Irish terrorist teaching a highly experienced FBI agent his job! A really "badly written" scene was where the 3 FBI agents have moved a family out of their house and the FBI folks are "cleaning up.(?) You actually have an FBI agent taking out the garbage! Trust me, agents don't have the time for this. Also, as soon as they noticed the 1st agent was missing and probably dead, they would have vacated the house and called for back-up! They should have also cut the speaker wires on the sound system that the Jackal was using to distract them! Yes, entertaining, but no where as good as the original...and remember that "lethal spray" that Willis used on his van to kill a "hijacker?" Nobody knows what it was. Well I'll tell you: it was "Anti-credibility spray" that destroys all credibility in any film that it's in...hooray for Hollywood!

Yeah, I know, it is so easy to bash this film as so many of you have done.It's a thriller that doesn't stand out in it's genre, pretty easy to watch but not more than that. It has a high profile cast including Bruce Willis, Richard Gere and a couple of very very decent actors slash actresses like J.K. Simmons, Diane Venora and so on, so nothing wrong with that. A more than decent director in Michael Caton-Jones, who does his best with the material he's got and doing a good job at it. Sadly he has to work with a script that has potholes the size of Hummers H3 in it, so it's easy to see why this film doesn't work the way it's supposed to.but!!!! If you have read some of the novels written by Robert Ludlum (may God rest his soul) you will have picked up some of the vibe he has put in most of his novels, putting the Jason Bourne Trilogy upfront. And just to be clear about it, I'm not talking about the miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and also not even mentioning the Matt Damon movies (although those were really cool) but the original novels as Mr. Ludlum intended them to be. If you have these novels in the back of your head and are a fan of them you will find this movie pretty enjoyable to watch although the execution of this movie has some problems in staying believable.It is in general a pretty normal thriller with (Í'm sorry to say) some mayor flaws. But I can't escape the feeling that the script (allthough adapted from an apparent classic of which I haven't yet had the pleasure of watching) was written in the mindset of an all-out genius Robert Ludlum-vibe, which I picked up on immediately and enjoyed very much.