Review of The International

The International involves an investigation into a powerful bank that is doing many terrible things and will destroy anyone who gets in its way. I didn't find this totally convincing. Corporations do many terrible things, but normally they don't instigate violence on a mass scale in first world countries, and this made the movie feel about as realistic as cop films in which mobsters blithely kill off large number of cops and politicians.

But if you overlook that, this is a pretty good movie. The first half is essentially an investigative drama. Once again, there's a little bit of cliché involved in the way you've got a couple of smart investigators determined to find the truth while being hamstrung by their bosses. But it is interesting to watch the investigation proceed.

The second half of the movie is livelier, most notably in a big shootout at the Guggenheim Museum that is pretty entertaining.

But while this was well done, I didn't connect strongly with the movie. The leads were professional but a bit bland, the story, as I've said, seemed a little unrealistic, and the look was often a bit too monochromatic for me as so much of it took place in offices.

I was torn between giving this a 6 or a 7. I feel it is a 7 in quality, but I think in terms of enjoyment I'm closer to 6.