The International DVD Review

[Brando]

Starring: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Ulrich Thomsen
Directed by: Tom Tykwer
Written by: Eric Singer
Runtime: 118 mins
Rated: R
Release date: June 9, 2009

Movie:

Hollywood has come up with some very scary bad guys over the years, ranging from Alien’s slimy, double-jawed xenophobe to T2’s mercuric, ungodly T1000. However, few movies, at least few memorable flicks, have tried making a bank – yes, a bank – the primary villain. And yet, that’s the case with Clive Owen’s recent thriller The International, an intensely suspenseful film that’s one part Daniel Craig Bond, one part Liam Neeson Taken. Unfortunately, it spends too much time weaving an overly complex plotline and not enough getting to the nitty-gritty – truly entertaining action.

Owen plays Interpol agent Louis Salinger, a determined international investigator with street beat roots in the Scotland Yard. Boasting a one-thousand-mile stare, he’s clearly got a murky and troubled history, which the film later on tries to exploit. For several years Salinger has been investigating the equally troubling history of the IBBC, or International Bank of Business & Credit, known for brokering massive arms deals between third world countries and the world’s leading producer of guns, China (I guess they make more than Wal-Mart toys). Salinger suspects the IBBC might be using its connections to countless governments and secretive intelligence organizations (that means you, CIA) to protect its sketchy practices, which might just be responsible for all those bloody coups in Africa, Mid-East turmoil, and the swine flu. Okay, I’m kidding about that last one, but the general theme here is that the IBBC makes Wall Street look like a socialist syndicate of blue-bonnet grannies.

There are many barriers standing in the way of Salinger’s investigation, and the film basically devolves into a series of frustrating and inexplicable hurdles for the protagonist, who is joined by New York City District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts). The reason? Apparently the City that Never Sleeps is where the big bad bank executes many of its shady business dealings. That’s really the only reason for Whitman’s involvement in the case, and because it’s a weak one she passes in and out of the film’s plotline pretty frequently. Enough to keep the movie’s limited sex appeal sharp, I suppose.

Thankfully, the movie isn’t quite as boring as the bureaucratic yarn it sounds like. Owen’s character is a pesky, grim-faced investigator and the IBBC a deadly syndicate well above the law, meaning that the closer Salinger gets to the truth, the higher the body count. Most everything required of the best international intrigue thrillers is here: an epic shootout (this one taking place in the Guggenheim of all places), a long-range assassination, and plenty of po-mo European architecture. The only thing it’s really missing is a Ronin-inspired BMW vs. Alfa Romeo car chase.

Unfortunately, there’s very little to cling onto here; in other words, it’s hard to be passionate about a nefarious bank nor is it easy to become inextricably involved in a plot that seems to morph every ten minutes. There’s no central villain and even the heroes are hard to pin down; Watts’ character isn’t around much and although it’s nice to see a movie break from the standard, there’s absolutely no chemistry between Whitman and Salinger. Clearly the movie’s producers watched a lot of Bond movies, but they’ve forgotten this one very critical element.

And so, the movie relies heavily on its art style and a few momentous action scenes. Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough – the Guggenheim shootout is very good (and extremely violent at that), but aside from this episode there are few heart-pounding sequences in The International.

The movie’s strengths are in its visuals. Even the standard DVD format, which I watched, looked almost hi-def. The colors are fantastic and the movie does not take its name lightly; there are several astonishingly beautiful clips of Europe’s most gorgeous cities from their rooftops. Although you’ll not regret cheaping out for the DVD version as I did, this is one flick worth the Blu-ray upgrade.

Video:

The International’s audio is also very good. The earthy, bass-heavy beats emphasize the film’s intense action scenes and ramp up anticipation through the never-ending suspense. The Guggenheim scene, shot within the structure’s massive rotunda, will play out very well for those of you with surround sound home theaters.

Audio:

Special features, like the film itself, are of average quality. There are several behind-the-scenes offerings, the best revealing the incredible energy behind the Guggenheim shootout. Apparently the producers purchased an old warehouse and in ten weeks transformed the building into a virtual piece of art. Which is then, of course, blown apart. Other special features include a making-of covering the film in its entirety, this lasting about 30 minutes. Of course, the value of these specials depends entirely on whether you felt the movie itself was memorable, and I did not.

Overall, The International is a fairly average thriller. It’s well acted; Owen couldn’t have done a better job with the Salinger character, and although Watts is slightly less believable she too performs well. It’s also a beautifully-shot movie with impressive audio, but unfortunately its technical elements outlast the most important of all movie-making devices: the story. Even as we collectively scowl at Wall Street, a bank isn’t quite scaly, wicked, or fiendish enough to make a movie of this kind worth owning.

Movie:

[tonyvdb]

Interesting how you have such a different view of this movie Brando, I reviewed it here a number of weeks ago and as you can see I found it quite boring and not really what it should have been.
Are you sure you saw the same movie that I did? (just kidding) It just goes to say that each person has their own view and opinions of a movie.

Good review

[Brando]

Well, as you can see from my review, Tony, I also found the plot a bit slow, the action an endangered species, but agreed that the video and audio was very impressive. I can understand your wife's sleepiness through it; there was a moment where I almost dozed off too.

However, I did find the acting very good and the art style fantastic. It's a gorgeous film, for the most part.

In summary, our opinions aren't that much different after all!

[tonyvdb]

I dont know what they were thinking when they made this movie as it could have done sooo much more with that story line. They must have had to renovate that museum as the damage they did to it during the finally of the movie was very extensive.

[Brando]

Hey Tony,

You'll see in the special features that the actually built their own Guggenheim in an abandoned Berlin factory and proceeded to shoot that up. It's pretty remarkable to see the lengths movie-makers will go to in order to produce a rather average film!

[Picture_Shooter]

tonyvdb wrote:

Interesting how you have such a different view of this movie Brando, I reviewed it here a number of weeks ago and as you can see I found it quite boring and not really what it should have been.
Are you sure you saw the same movie that I did? (just kidding) It just goes to say that each person has their own view and opinions of a movie.

Good review

Don't worry, I too felt like I wanted to turn off the film and go to bed. Wait, I did