The International (2009) (R)
Directed by Tom Tykwer
Starring: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Brian F. O'Byrne
Daughter Says:
The International is about a detective who has been chasing dead-ends on a bank called IBBC located in Germany/France. They take care of the debt the country may go into when disaster happens. But something is very fishy about the IBBC. Every time they have a case, everyone who is involved ends up dead. Detective Louis Salinger, played by Clive Owen, witnesses the murder of his partner. Now trying to catch the suspects to his death, they travel international on a wild goose chase.
This movie was a bit slow. The script was not written very well so it appeared slow and boring. There wasn't tons of action like I thought it would when I saw the previews and, it just didn't catch my attention. I was also extremely lost throughout the whole movie. The characters kept jumping from country to country really fast and I didn't know where they were most of the time. It created a roughness to the movie. The flow of the movie just wasn't there for me.
There were only two good parts for me. I loved the scene in New York where they shoot up a famous museum. Glass going everywhere and many bullets fly, but the ending of the scene was stupid. They end up just walking out like it was nothing. I also liked in the very end. There's a scene where Owen is chasing the main bad guy. That's not the best part. I liked the scenery. They had gotten on to the top of the buildings in a country. There were stairs and sidewalks on the tops of these houses. I just found that so cool. Let's just say I'm amused easily. But that was the only great part of the scene. I hated the ending. There was nothing to it. I was extremely upset about it too. Oh well, at least the movie is over now.
My rating for the International: **
Daddy Says:
I really like Clive Owen. I've seen him in Sin City, Duplicity, Shoot 'Em Up, and Children of Men. He even had a brief role in The Bourne Identity. His presence alone is usually enough to make me want to watch a movie. But, unfortunately, with only a couple of exceptions, the movies he's in just aren't very good. And this one isn't either.
For about the first half of the film, I thought it should have been called The Exposition, as that's about all that was happening; people walked, people talked, people yelled, etc. I'm sure there are people who think it's wonderful that everything is so explicitly stated, but I prefer to have some things left for me to figure out for myself.
The script for The International is essentially preposterous. And no matter how good, exciting and thrilling the action scenes are, they aren't enough to overcome a bad script. And this one is bad. For example, the movie starts off with an agent trying to talk an informant into coming in for protection. The informant is scared, he needs time to think. The agent leaves him, makes a phone call, then keels over dead. His partner (Clive Owen) rushes across a traffic-filled street to help, and when he gets there a passing truck whacks him in the back of the head with it's passenger-side mirror, leaving Clive knocked to the ground on the verge of passing out with a loud ringing sound in his ears.
Now, a good script would have made this incident mean something. Perhaps Clive can no longer hear well anymore, and his partial deafness would have played into a critical moment later in the film. But no, the next scene shows him getting checked out in a doctor's office and we are supposed to forget all about his head injury. It's never mentioned again. So, why did the script include him getting hit on the head in the first place? I have no idea.
Great action scenes, but not enough of them. A really good, likable lead, but not a good script for him to read. A disappointment.
Rating for The International: ***
Directed by Tom Tykwer
Starring: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Brian F. O'Byrne
Daughter Says:
The International is about a detective who has been chasing dead-ends on a bank called IBBC located in Germany/France. They take care of the debt the country may go into when disaster happens. But something is very fishy about the IBBC. Every time they have a case, everyone who is involved ends up dead. Detective Louis Salinger, played by Clive Owen, witnesses the murder of his partner. Now trying to catch the suspects to his death, they travel international on a wild goose chase.
This movie was a bit slow. The script was not written very well so it appeared slow and boring. There wasn't tons of action like I thought it would when I saw the previews and, it just didn't catch my attention. I was also extremely lost throughout the whole movie. The characters kept jumping from country to country really fast and I didn't know where they were most of the time. It created a roughness to the movie. The flow of the movie just wasn't there for me.
There were only two good parts for me. I loved the scene in New York where they shoot up a famous museum. Glass going everywhere and many bullets fly, but the ending of the scene was stupid. They end up just walking out like it was nothing. I also liked in the very end. There's a scene where Owen is chasing the main bad guy. That's not the best part. I liked the scenery. They had gotten on to the top of the buildings in a country. There were stairs and sidewalks on the tops of these houses. I just found that so cool. Let's just say I'm amused easily. But that was the only great part of the scene. I hated the ending. There was nothing to it. I was extremely upset about it too. Oh well, at least the movie is over now.
My rating for the International: **
Daddy Says:
I really like Clive Owen. I've seen him in Sin City, Duplicity, Shoot 'Em Up, and Children of Men. He even had a brief role in The Bourne Identity. His presence alone is usually enough to make me want to watch a movie. But, unfortunately, with only a couple of exceptions, the movies he's in just aren't very good. And this one isn't either.
For about the first half of the film, I thought it should have been called The Exposition, as that's about all that was happening; people walked, people talked, people yelled, etc. I'm sure there are people who think it's wonderful that everything is so explicitly stated, but I prefer to have some things left for me to figure out for myself.
The script for The International is essentially preposterous. And no matter how good, exciting and thrilling the action scenes are, they aren't enough to overcome a bad script. And this one is bad. For example, the movie starts off with an agent trying to talk an informant into coming in for protection. The informant is scared, he needs time to think. The agent leaves him, makes a phone call, then keels over dead. His partner (Clive Owen) rushes across a traffic-filled street to help, and when he gets there a passing truck whacks him in the back of the head with it's passenger-side mirror, leaving Clive knocked to the ground on the verge of passing out with a loud ringing sound in his ears.
Now, a good script would have made this incident mean something. Perhaps Clive can no longer hear well anymore, and his partial deafness would have played into a critical moment later in the film. But no, the next scene shows him getting checked out in a doctor's office and we are supposed to forget all about his head injury. It's never mentioned again. So, why did the script include him getting hit on the head in the first place? I have no idea.
Great action scenes, but not enough of them. A really good, likable lead, but not a good script for him to read. A disappointment.
Rating for The International: ***
Ok, this one was so bad, I had to leave the room. Really, you are going to give it 2 and 3 stars? The little guy even left the room!!! I think at best it should get a half star and only because Clive Owen is a hunk!!!
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