I saw this movie expecting a remake turkey of Avengeresque proportions, yet what I found was an adequately enjoyable action-espionage romp that held my attention for the whole of its duration.

To be honest, I know nothing about The Saint. All I know is that it starred Roger Moore (an actor who, like Kilmer, is unlikely to be troubled by the Academy) and had a vaguely-memorable theme tune. Then it came back with Ian Ogilvy, who was less popular, but had a cracking theme under the name of "Return of the Saint". Oh, and he wears a little stick-figure "Saint" icon, which is oddly effeminate with it's one hand on hip, the other tilted. A bit of a fey emblem for one so suave.

Other than that, I came to this film afresh. I'm not normally Val's biggest fan (feeling he virtually slid off the screen in apathy during Batman Forever) and only tuned in to see a real lousy movie, an enjoyable pastime on occasion. However, while Val may be a charisma-free zone on a par with Keanu, I think in The Saint he does seem to be enjoying himself a lot more. In fact, in a more personable actor, this film could have easily become a one-liner spouting, smug action film. With the more... er... dormant, shall we say?... performance of Kilmer, it has a less abrasive edge.

The plot, acting and dialogue probably won't stand up to close inspection, but then this isn't the sort of film you're going to watch more than once. It's passable entertainment, where Kilmer adopts a variety of ludicrous disguises and even more ludicrous accents to foil some Russians in a cold fusion war.

Val's characterisation is interesting, as is the role itself. I mean, what is The Saint, other than a glorified thief? Only British tv could come up with such an anti-hero; a leading man who basically... nicks things. Even towards the end, when a more philanthropic nature is revealed, this is still a man with $50 million in the bank, and yet no-one yells "you dirty crook" and all the women want to bed him.

I liked the fact that a lot of it was set in England, something you don't often get in Hollywood films. Best bit in this country had to be the English police tackling an armed man. "Stop, sir, hold it right there" says the unarmed policewoman. A nice culture clash.

I'm not trying to justify this as a classic, and neither is it rocket science. (Well, actually, having said that, rocket science IS one of its plot elements...) All I'm saying is that this picture was an enjoyable, passable way to spend an hour and fifty minutes, a nice piece of escapist fluff that harms no one.

I loved this film as a child. Val Kilmer is hamming it up as this odd character that uses the weirdest accents and wigs throughout the film. Re-watching this film, I've discovered that the South African can character he creates to seduce the female lead is... cringeworthy yet hilarious.

Also cracking me up is the son of the villain Tretiak. The pony tailed, cane wielding minion has this amazing sixth sense to make the most outlandish "leaps of observation" to find Kilmer. This greasy bloodhound blankly looks around and can in any situation immediately find where Kilmer has gone.

Oddly enough some scenes seem to also have been shot with a green screen during reshoots. Simple shots like two people speaking in a doorway are superimposed on a Moscow background. This only adds to the love I have for this weird and sloppy film that I continue to return to.