The International – Exquisitely Shot But Unpredictable.

I did not have lotta expectations about this movie. The reviews said the movie was not that great and I was beginning to think half way in to the movie that it’s a simple case of whodunnit, a.k.a who is the assassin. Yeah yeah, now we let out a big yawn. But movie surprisingly took a new turn but faltered in the climax. Come on, can’t watch a movie with an anti climax every now and then??? So when Clive Owen (Agent Salinger) takes a shot and the villain, you expect something else to happen. But something else happens. Aww, I can’t explain (cz u guys have to see it!!!!!!). But I found the picture intense and gripping right through. It helps that Clive Owen is believable as the protagonist and is highly watchable. A lesser actor in the role would have made the film much less effective. No further proof is needed beyond this film to show Clive Owen would've been a superior James Bond. But Naomi Watts (read The Ring), as agent Eleanor Whitman, whats she doing in the movie? Makes you wonder why she took up such a useless role. She just keeps on following Clive in the movie (wherever he travels,…I mean).

But something in the movie really made me look up and take notice. In a modern movie world where thrillers are currently regulated to the pulse-pounding non-stop movement or the gruesome thrillers, it's refreshing to see a film of this ilk built in such a classical way. "The International" begins "in medias res" with one of those clichéd secret meetings gone wrong, then delves into a series of expository scenes that lead to a masterfully staged assassination attempt in Milan that leads to rising action culminating in the Guggenheim museum’s shoot-em-up that leads to falling action that ends with a roof-top chase over the lively markets of Istanbul.

The highest point of the movie is its cinematography. The movie is told via camera more than dialogues. There are a lot of scenes wherein the director speaks through the lens. No kinetic hand-held camera action, but smooth visually appealing cinematic exposition the way Hitchcock did it in his prime. Here Tykwer's (Director) vistas are architectural landmarks from around the world that serve as picture-perfect set-pieces and back-drops for the carefully stacked plot and action.

The plot, as we come to conclude at half time, doesn’t seem to lighten you up, mostly cz we have seen the stalemate stuff stereotyped over and over again in Bond movies. An international bank, IBBC (whta's the expansion??), funding for low grade weapons in third world countries, they in turn causing mayhem. But surprisingly the movie isn’t bout one man saving the world and stops the bomb exactly one second before it’s gonna explode. Instead it is the hunt for a source to take the corporation, i.e. the bank’s president. It is about seeking retribution for humans who sacrificed their lives for what they thought was morally right; and those my friend are stakes I can get behind. A movie not to miss despite its minor flaws. The movie’s releasing this Friday in Satyam Cinemas. Ahh, at last a review of a holly movie that’s releasing in India 

The International – Very Intense. 3.5/5