So much average

A different way of telling a story

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

When the first female President of the US is assassinated during a speech, all hell breaks loose. This is the beginning of Conspiracy XIII. It looks as if the assassin has escaped. Some time later, an elderly couple find a wounded man whose parachute is stuck in a tree. He has no idea who he is. On his neck is a tattoo "XIII."The assassin is still being hunted, and when the young man uses the computer at the elderly couple's home, the government tracks him there, but he gets away. Some suggest this is an inside job, not from outside terrorists, possibly to influence the upcoming election.XIII is desperate to find out who he is, and what he's done. When he is finally captured, he finds out that he has been given a stolen identity, plastic surgery, and gone undercover to expose conspirators who want to overthrow the government. They are right in the government itself, running a secret agency. Lots of car chases, shootings, torture, the usual thing for this kind of film. It is somewhat interesting, if highly derivative. The first hour was better than the second.This TV movie, which was a pilot for a series (which I never saw) has been compared to Jason Bourne for obvious reasons. I found it nowhere as exciting as any of the Bourne films.I really liked Stephen Dorff - he has a quiet, sincere demeanor, and when he has to fight, get out of the way. The rest of the cast was okay, with the standout being Catarina Murino as Sam, a woman who helps him.

XIII: The Conspiracy appears to get off to a decent start, but as the film unrolls it quickly unravels. The action slows down, and boring, repetitive, nonsensical babbling quickly takes over. Unfortunately, nothing is said that makes any sense - just confusing hogwash about politicians, spies, an emerging election and amnesia. The amnesiac was the luckiest of the cast. At least he had a justification for not knowing what was going on. Instead of the discussions between the actors and actresses delineating the preceding action, and setting up the next round of fisticuffs, explosions, and torture, they do nothing but randomly bump the film in a different, unexplained direction. This serves only to give the actors, who randomly pop in and out, just some time to create a new situation or two that only adds to the confusion. Wherever this dog is barking, there must be a better movie playing at a theater within walking distance. Take the walk. Or if you're on your sofa, stretch for the controls and flip the TV dial randomly and you'll come up with a better choice. This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

I haven't read all the comments, but doesn't it appear that the whole miniseries was a pilot for a potential TV series? It appears that someone looked at the incredible success of "24", and said, "Yeah, I want me some of that!" I can see it now, every week, Tanner digs into one more member of the conspiracy, probably killing him JUST before he is able to extract the name of the next conspirator up the line. Of course, he'll have to have a love interest, so I guess Sam better stock up on condoms and clean sheets! Periodically, Sam will be kidnapped in an effort to capture Tanner, etc. etc etc. I could so write this stuff! If anyone in Hollywood is reading this, I AM available for a modest six-figure salary!

In trying to update the story from the great comic book series, they ruined the plot. XIII was and is a great comic book series. I just reread it again. But the TV series tried to make it into a different story, yet using the character names from the comic book and adding a few. The suspense is missing. The humor is missing. Jones's character is diminished. In the comic book she also quite a fighter and love interest. The photo shop business was all added and not needed. XIII figures it out.It should have been a weekly series sticking to the original characters and plot.