The International Post

I have to start off and admit that I never intended to see The International. Sarah and I have had our eyes on another Clive Owen movie (Duplicity) which apparently comes out next month. Being that Owen starts in this film as well, we just sort of assumed it was the same movie. The mistake dawned on us after we where sitting through the trailers before the International started and an ad for Duplicity came on. “Well this never happens” we said to each other “Why show a trailer for the movie people are already about to see? Seems stupid,” But we soon found out who the stupid ones where... So with that said here is my review of the movie I never meant to see: The International*

What if the world’s largest bank didn’t make its riches off of overdue account fees and interest? What if all the world’s terrorist and military forces where funded and tied to one big financial institution? Could one man ever unravel such a plot? Have you ever found yourself asking these questions? Probably not… but if you ever did, The International is here to show you that there is pretty much nothing you can ever do about it should said evil bank ever exist. The main theme running though the film is that this problem at hand is much bigger than Owen’s lion-hearted detective character, and is not something he can stop. Unfortunately it’s not done in a hopeful, battle-against-evil kind of way. More so it’s just a miserable romp with minor splashes of intuitive detective work.

None of the characters are fleshed out or particularly likable, with the unexpected exception of the hitman character. The movie focus’ on Owen’s character (the name escapes me) as he teams up with a district attorney (played by Naomi Watts) as they attempt to build evidence in a case against an evil bank that profits from international conflict. Along the way they track down a hitman, solve an assassination mystery and have a shoot-out in the Guggenheim. The shootout was particularly engaging however and the hitman character they are hunting for a large part of the film, turns out to fetch an interesting mix of conflicted emotions from the audience. Some of the detective work was impressive and pretty clever, but in the end it just seems like it was a waste of time, as the ending fails to deliver.

The International is not a bad movie, but it reeks of mediocrity. There are pangs of greatness but they are fleeting and not enough to engage or impress. Now admittedly the fact that this was not the Ocean’s 11 meets Mr. & Mrs. Smith movie I was expecting to see might be souring my opinion of the movie. But I really did have a hard time getting into this movie beyond the big action scene and the occasional clever part.*Stay tuned next month for Duplicity's review!