The International

(SPOILER ALERT) Though The International is remembered by most for its atypical pacing, architectural tourism, and a shootup of that hideous confectionery abomination known as the Guggenheim (if all of that building had been taken down it would totally have been worth five stars), for me personally the most interesting thing about it was the bizarrely disillusioning script, which is magnificently unfulfilling; if we're going to call the Bourne trilogy post-Bond, this film is post-Bourne. It does show us the same world of multinational corporations, banking networks, mafia families, and secret organizations that Clive Owen's mad dog runs around in with his laughable indomitability, but this time the script takes pains to make it clear how his efforts are basically completely pointless, as all these groups actually work it out amongst themselves without him. Crucial to this are the side characters from the Calvini family clan, who appear in the film once, are talked about a lot more, and for all we know are supposed to be the most dangerous piece of the entire arms deal the plot revolves around. But instead, they not only end up helping the protagonist, but also quietly and indirectly resolve the whole situation, seemingly to the protagonist's satisfaction; nevertheless, the outcome is that they thereby merely underline how impossible it is anymore to break into the world of behind-the-scenes financial operations from the outside, which have now spilled so far beyond the borders of nations as to have lost their form and become more slippery than ever before. (11/18/2020)

A bureaucracy bound James Bond from the financial world. Tykwer approaches this untraditionally, almost unwatchably. I was expecting something like Michael Clayton in a different environment with scores of attractive locations. And I got Michael Clayton in a different atmosphere with scores of attractive locations. The only action scene is absolutely fantastic (not just due to the choice of locations), but it is completely out of place in this movie. A calm, serious tempo where even the nerve-racking chases happen at brisk walking pace and all of a sudden we get an action movie like from John Woo, and with humor to boot! And then a return to the slow, but in no way boring tempo. If the Whitman character weren’t so superfluous and those several rather laughable genre clichés (it applies that they might not have mattered in a different movie, but here they are simply eyesores), then I would have enjoyed Tykwer’s idea of a thriller, and raised no objections. (03/29/2009)

While it looks like an action-packed romp, except that it's not action, unless you count the shootout in the gallery, which is the only one that really caught my attention. Otherwise? Not that great. I'd give it 2 stars, but because it ends quite realistically and believably, indeed it's all pretty believable in general (their injuries, for example – they really are injured, they go to the doctor and don't miraculously recover from their injuries in the next scene). So I really appreciate that about this film. Then there's also my favorite actor starring – another plus. The romance wasn't there, which may be a shame for the viewer's attention span, but maybe that's what really makes the film more believable... anyway, check it out if you like Clive and if you like the worker ant wanting to bring down the supervillain corporation. (03/05/2010)

Tom Tykwer, clearly impressed by the recent "Bond films" and the "Bourne Trilogy," decided to make his own contribution to the theme of lone agents standing up to powerful multinational organizations, and the result is a very unconventional, yet impressive spectacle. Although the characters are in constant motion, the locations change and the plot moves along briskly. Tykwer's storytelling is surprisingly sparing, slightly distant (the almost fetishistic emphasis on modern architecture), and relatively slow-paced (except for the unique shootout, which is unparalleled). Yet, amazingly, it all works. After seeing a film like this, one can only get the impression that banks are the evil of this world - if one has forgotten that they caused the current economic crisis. :) PS: The reference to The Jackal pleased me. Power. (06/20/2009)

The International is a decent, though somewhat chatty, political/espionage flick with one excellent shootout. The characters are not exactly depicted in detail, which makes the audience appreciate the expressive body language of Clive Owen. He’s a perfect fit for his agent character. Naomi Watts is just there for marketing purposes, so that her face could be put on the posters. The story is overly contrived but interesting and the soft, pulsating electronic music helps to keep the suspense going (it’s simply fun to root for a bold, likable guy standing up against the most powerful manipulators in the world). There’s also an atmospheric manor on a cliff, looking like something from a Bond film. It’s no new Bourne and Michael Clayton went deeper, but Tykwer’s commercial flick does reach the level of Sydney Pollack’s The Interpreter. (03/03/2009)