Movie Review: Sahara (2005)

Synopsis: While searching for a lost Civil War ironclad he believes is in the land-locked African country of Mali, explorer Dirk Pitt and his partners offer passage to a pair of doctors from the World Health Organization and wind up being caught in the middle of a violent cover up related to a mysterious disease that is sweeping the war-torn country.

Who's in it? The movie stars Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn, Penelope Cruz, William H. Macy and Lennie James.

Review: My wife surprised me by ordering out for dinner last night so, since I didn't need to cook, I was able to spend that extra time finding a movie for us to watch. It had been a while since I last watched Sahara (nearly a decade) and when I came across it on one of our movie channels, that was the pick.

It had been long enough since my last viewing for me to not remember a whole lot about the movie other than I had enjoyed it every other time I watched it. After seeing it again last night, my opinion remained unchanged.

I'm actually not a huge Matthew McConaughey fan, largely because his characters all tend to be the same (the same could be said of Steve Zahn too). However, in this particular case, his personality works really well, especially since the film called for a mix of both action and comedy.

In fact, I actually thought his character, Dirk Pitt, was somewhat intriguing. He was a guy with an agenda but was willing to drop everything and even risk his life if he saw someone in need. Plus, his ability to improvise and get out of sticky situations with something as simple as a coin or something more complex, like a crashed airplane, reminded me a lot of the television show MacGyver. I even made a couple references to the latter while watching it.

Zahn's character, Al, was (once again) a clone of others I've seen him play. That said, I did think he and McConaughey had good chemistry, making Al and Dirk more believable as long-time friends who had shared many adventures.

I was a bit undecided about the main female lead, Eva (Cruz). She seemed like a reasonably strong female character, at least compared to some in other movies, and would occasionally step up in a fight. However, there were times when she seemed to get lost in the background and too many other times when she would just be a damsel in distress.

My only real complaint about this movie is there is an overabundance of bad guys. This wouldn't normally be a bad thing, but they weren't always working together, and it was sometimes difficult to tell which of the two was the one they should be more concerned with. It also did make the film's ending drag on a bit, with two separate final boss battles. This includes one that, while exciting, was also a little ridiculous considering the only reason the heroes survive is the bad guys who had multiple tanks only fired one shot at a time and what looked to be the same exact spot.

Final Opinion: The movie does require you to pay attention because there is a lot going on and a lot of players involved. However, it is a fun action film that gets a bit over the top at times but is still entertaining to watch so I would recommend it.

My Grade: A

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Here are some reviews of other movies that take place in Africa:

Movie Review: Love on Safari (2018)

Movie Review: Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015)

Movie Review: Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

Movie Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016)