Tom Twyker picks his projects with an eye for something that will bring him in on something really significant, even if it's just (or maybe because of) one sequence. Previously we saw his adaptation of Perfume which had that incredibly strange and erotica and absurd climax with the orgy in the arena. This time we get a gigantic shoot-out set-piece at the Guggenheim museum in New York. What leads up to this exactly I wont say, not because I would be too spoiling but because it's almost inconsequential. From the lead-up to this, which is just suspenseful enough, all the way through the execution of all of these rounds fired off, hundreds and hundreds of bullets in the walls of one of the most well-renown museums in the world, Twyker makes such a remarkable sequence that it stands up to some of the best I've seen in years. If nothing else, it can be counted as an equal (only this time with a straight face) with Clive Owen's previous vehicle Shoot em Up.
As for the rest of the movie... it's good, but not totally altogether remarkable. It's an unraveling-conspiracy story where a whole network of international bankers are using tons of money in under-the-table arms deals with some "nefarious" elements. This also leads to things like assassinations, and with determined and ragged Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Owen) and a Manattan DA (Watts) on the trail. Some of it you have to pay attention to closely- it's one of those not-really spy like thrillers- but at least it pays off in some satisfying conventional ways. Twyker can handle suspense pretty well, as well as having a couple of strong leads and a couple of notable supporting players like Armin Mueller-Stahl. We get wrapped up in this story of corruption and worldwide espionage, even up until an ending that is average in its bittersweet tenacity. But at the same time it doesn't really stay with the viewer - that is unless you're affected by the recent disasters going on in Wall Street.
But if nothing else, truly, all you movie fans out there, just watch the film for that Guggenheim scene. It is, for lack of a worse or better cliché, a knock-your-socks-off sequence.
As for the rest of the movie... it's good, but not totally altogether remarkable. It's an unraveling-conspiracy story where a whole network of international bankers are using tons of money in under-the-table arms deals with some "nefarious" elements. This also leads to things like assassinations, and with determined and ragged Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Owen) and a Manattan DA (Watts) on the trail. Some of it you have to pay attention to closely- it's one of those not-really spy like thrillers- but at least it pays off in some satisfying conventional ways. Twyker can handle suspense pretty well, as well as having a couple of strong leads and a couple of notable supporting players like Armin Mueller-Stahl. We get wrapped up in this story of corruption and worldwide espionage, even up until an ending that is average in its bittersweet tenacity. But at the same time it doesn't really stay with the viewer - that is unless you're affected by the recent disasters going on in Wall Street.
But if nothing else, truly, all you movie fans out there, just watch the film for that Guggenheim scene. It is, for lack of a worse or better cliché, a knock-your-socks-off sequence.