The 6th Day

Underneath The 6th Day's Schwarzenegger schmaltz of expensive explosions, showpiece stunts and utterly extraneous jet-helicopter chases, there's an intelligent cautionary thriller about science run amuck that has been trampled to death. Instead, we're served up a slightly futuristic action movie about a suburban father on the run from leather-clad lackeys of an evil corporation that illegally cloned him and now wants (at least one of) him dead. Director Roger Spottiswoode (Tomorrow Never Dies) jettisons the movie's brainy elements in favor of video game action scenes, showy techno editing and blatant product placement. Ah-nold is laughably bad and one suspects that he must have fired his dialect coach since it's harder than ever to understand him here. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Blackwelder)