The Siege film review

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THE SIEGE

Federal agent Denzel Washington finds himself in the midst of masonry rubble and a rising tide of panic when teams of Middle Eastern terrorists launch a strategic campaign to blow the core out of the Big Apple.

And even as Denzel and Arab-American partner Tony Shalhoub attempt to root out the villains, their efforts are being hampered by the presence of meddlesome CIA chick Annette Bening - who clearly knows more than she's letting on - and gung-ho General Bruce Willis declaring martial law (the film's original title) over NYC.

With such a cast, and Courage Under Fire director Edward Zwick in charge, this should have been a tense action thriller. It's not. Instead, there appears to have been a monkey in the editing suite, who's spent half an afternoon untidily bolting about four different films together with scant regard for cohesion, plausibility or audience intelligence.

Washington and Shalhoub are actually rather good in the buddy-cop routine, and there's at least a hint of chemistry between Washington and Bening, but no-one escapes with any real dignity or conviction, and this sorry waste of potential proves once again that star names grimacing while stuff gets blown up does not guarantee action thriller quality.