Rodrigo Amaro This film can only be misjudged these days. "Live Wire" comes from a time when coming up with the most showy ideas and putting into a movie were something fun for our eyes to see and for audiences enjoy it as if it was the coolest thing ever created. And it has Pierce Brosnan a little before Bond, already showing up some skills when it comes to be a great action hero and a sexy ladies man.He plays Danny O'Neill, a bomb disposal expert with lots of trouble to deal (which includes the alleged love affair his wife is having with a Senator) when a maniac (Ben Cross) decides to eliminate political targets by using a liquid explosive that is practically invisible to eyes. And one of the targets is...the Senator (played by Ron Silver). I haven't said much but I guess you already can form scenes, situations, establish connections and see how this is going to end. Ridiculously predictable to make you feel sick.The biggest achievement of "Live Wire" is seeing the use of the invisible explosive that is easily ingested and later causes a lot of damages and deaths. It doesn't end without some shock, very similar to a heart-attack, then the eyes start to get read and boom! The courtroom scene is terrifying, just to give an example. It's fun to watch. The cast is good, they are suitable and comfortable in their roles and they save the script of being a whole mess. Speaking of the script, this had one of the worst plot holes ever presented on screen that even a kid can easily detect: the fighting between Danny and Tony Plana's character in the fountain scene. How come such writer comes up in developing such a tense moment with these two fighting, alternately drowning each other in the explosive water but only one pays the price and blow up to pieces? How does one expect to get away with this? With all those obstacles this manages to be thrilling, funny (specially the robot trained to find bombs who has a crush on Brosnan's character or the whole city knowing about the infidelities of his wife) and there's reasonable action sequences. Highpoint of the movie: the duel in the house where Pierce has the chance to demonstrate he knows everything about bombs, improvising explosive devices to kill the bad guys. Goofy, relatively dumb but who cares, this is good. Don't take it too seriously and you'll see what's so good about it. 7/10

Randall Cameron Another film with several good elements that manages to fail, chiefly because of weaknesses in the story.Good cast in Pierce Brosnan and Ben Cross -- they must have needed the money to take the job.A key "science fiction" element is not really believable, but this is a Hollywood thriller, so if you accept it, you could enjoy the story.There are many good one-liners, and the interactions between the protagonists and various minor characters are believable and entertaining. The pace is reasonable, and some degree of suspense is maintained, with some stock "thriller" elements.Brosnan's character and his personal problems are well developed and make him sympathetic, and he plays his part well.The film is also mercifully short.BUT -- two major holes in the story killed it for me: 1. A political background (the reason the story is happening) is mentioned, but not really explained in terms of motives. Two minutes dialog could have filled in the holes and added a lot in terms of believability.2. The villain's character is not developed at all. What motivates him (other than money?) Ben Cross does what he can with a lousy script (not much). And his name, Mikhail Rashid (I think never actually mentioned in the film - a Tatar father and Russian mother) seems intended to exploit negative racist stereotypes (Russian = corrupt mafiosi; Arabic name = terrorist). He seems like a cartoon, Bond-esquire villain without the glitz. With Ben Cross, they could have written a complex, nuanced, even sympathetic villain, and this would have improved the story immensely.I gave this 5 out of 10 -- not painfully repulsive, but there are better ways to spend your time.

BloodTheTelepathicDog I'll admit, up until watching this film, I wasn't a Brosnan fan at all. I despise all James Bond films, and associate Pierce with the tuxedo clad secret agent, even when he is playing someone different. Pierce adds plenty of depth to his character, that has become Hollywood's most cherished stereotype, the drunk law enforcement agent.After the death of his daughter, Dan(Brosnan) seeks solace with alcohol, while his wife Teri(Eilbacher) jumps in bed with a crooked senator(Silver). For some reason Dan still loves the dirty tramp, and attempts to protect her when a group of terrorists, lead the the always dastardly Ben Cross, set their designs on the senator his wife is sleeping with.This film doesn't lack action or excitement, but the chief reasons to catch this film is for Pierce's clever interaction with Silver's senator character, the one-liners are good, but Pierce makes them noteworthy, and Lisa Eilbacher's jaw-droppingly excellent form. It's good to be Pierce

Cross18 While I was channel surfing one uneventful Tuesday Evening, I came upon this Pierce Brosnan actioner. Since their was really nothing else on, I decided to give it a try. I was not disappionted. Brosnan plays Danny O'Neal, an easily aggrivated FBI Bomb Squad agent who is assigned to protect a sleazy Senator (Ron Silver). The Senator is being threatened by a group of revenge driven terrorists who have invented a liqued explosive that caused people to explode when ingested. I know, that sound kinda cheesy, but the movie pulls it off nicely. The character tension and the invigorating action sequences make this a cool film.