Movie Reviews : High Adventure, Five Teens in Daring ‘Rescue’

“The Rescue” (citywide) whisks us through an intricate, misfired secret undersea mission to get to the heart of the matter: Four members of a special naval task force have been captured by the North Koreans, and for political reasons, whatever waves our government is going to make in their behalf will be restricted to diplomatic channels.

Before you can say “Iron Eagle,” the captives’ teen-age kids, living on a South Korean base, decide to take matters into their own hands.

Although predictable for anyone over the age of 10, “The Rescue” is happily quite a few cuts above “Iron Eagle,” that heavily jingoistic, credibility-defying 1986 picture that had an 18-year-old commandeering a fighter jet and single-handedly rescuing his father from a Middle East prison.

Writers Jim and John Thomas have been shrewd enough to place the odds in their favor by involving five young people in the attempt rather than one; by progressing subtly from humor to seriousness, and by emphasizing high adventure over politics.

That director Ferdinand Fairfax (whose previous feature was the lively New Zealand period adventure “Nate and Hayes”) keeps a constant flow of incidents moving so fast there’s no time to ponder their credibility is, of course, crucial in the suspension of disbelief. “The Rescue” looks to be a hit with youngsters.

Kevin Dillon, Christina Harnos, Marc Price, Ned Vaughn and Ian Giatti play bright, likable and enviably resourceful young people caught up in a bold and dangerous mission. For the troubled J.J. (Dillon), the rescue attempt means an opportunity to express his love for his tough, by-the-book commander-father (Edward Albert). All the five are persuasive, but Vaughn has an unusual degree of authority for so young an actor.

Filmed in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Macao, “The Rescue” has been given a clean, straightforward look by ace Australian cameraman Russell Boyd. Although the film is epic in scale, the film makers have not allowed themselves to be carried away with preposterous action-movie stunts and special effects.

There’s an admirable sense of balance, proportion and restraint at work that nudges us toward becoming involved with the youngsters and going along with their seemingly impossible task. That “The Rescue” (MPAA-rated PG for its intensity) never condescends to its audience or insults its intelligence may be as daring as anything its young heroes attempt.