MacGyver’s genius not enough to prevent ABC movie from
bombing
Bland acting, clichéd plot, scarcity of investigator’s
tricks disappoint fans
By Jennifer Richmond
Daily Bruin Staff
MacGyver. The man best known for making explosives out of match
boxes returns to primetime in his first two-hour TV movie.
Although MacGyver once amazed and entranced audiences with his
intriguing investigative skills and knowledge during his primetime
series, attempting to push his talent to fill two hours of "Trail
to Doomsday" this Thursday was not his best move.
This time, MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) desperately searches
for his friend Paul’s murderer. He gets help from an ex-KGB agent
and discovers a secret nuclear plant lying at the center of the
evil plot.
Anderson reprises his famous role from the television series and
his typical American rebel attitude comes through loud and clear in
his actions. He’s determined to find the killer even though he’s
been warned that the police can handle it. His typical MacGyver
response, "The police will have their investigation and I’ll have
mine," comes as no surprise to regular "MacGyver" watchers.
Seasoned fans will expect MacGyver to get in over his head and
have some astonishing household remedy at his fingertips to help
him out of the sticky situation. But if those household remedies
are what you want, you’ll have to wait until the last 10 minutes of
the film.
Since those tricks are what MacGyver’s best known for, why
screenwriter John Considine chooses not to include as many of them
as possible is baffling. Given an extra hour, Considine should have
been able to stick in at least double the normal number of bizarre
experiments. But instead, he cuts them by at least half, leaving
"MacGyver" regulars upset and dissatisfied. This is only the
beginning.
While the plot starts off intriguing, after about an hour or so,
the story gets redundant and predictable. Based on some of the
actors’ actions and conversations, it becomes incredibly clear
who’s responsible for Paul’s (Nicholas Farrell) death; and because
it’s so obvious, the story loses its hold and becomes just another
action adventure film.
Although Anderson takes the role of MacGyver to new heights, his
supporting actors don’t help him in any way. Beatie Edney annoys
everyone as Natalia. Her whining and very uncoy looks give her
motives away from start to finish. Peter Egan’s Frederick
completely over does the English accented bad guy and Alun
Armstrong’s Capshaw uses his talents to yell all his lines rather
than act them.
Past "MacGyver" episodes were never astonishing when it came to
acting, but the teleplay always had a legitimate plot line and held
interest. But instead of expanding on the classic "MacGyver" themes
and focusing on small crimes among small town hoods, the film
decides to go overseas to England and falls apart as a result. As
soon as the KGB, English accents and nuclear weapons come into
play, eyes begin to roll and yawns are plentiful.
Unfortunately, when the finale comes, it’s predictable: Can
MacGyver disarm the bomb with only one second left or two?
Who cares? By this time, all the bad guys have been caught.
They’ve all been told they’re naughty and can’t be trusted, now let
them blow themselves to bits  PLEASE! At least then we’d know
the movie was over and we wouldn’t have to deal with the corny
happy ending.
With lines like "I didn’t want it to end this way," "You don’t
understand, you could never understand" and this reviewer’s
personal favorite, "your logic sucks," there’s really only one
thing to say: This movie sucks.
So, on Thanksgiving, watch the turkeys and stuffing on the table
rather than the turkey on ABC. The latter will leave a terrible
taste in your mouth.
TELEVISION: "MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday." Starring Richard Dean
Anderson, Beatie Edney and Peter Egan. Airs Thursday, Nov. 24, at 8
p.m. on ABC.