Disappointingly mediocre action movie pretending to be more...

Rating: 3/10 (18 December 2011)

When I saw the rating here on IMDb, I was certain that this was going to be great. "More than just an action movie", "Amazing action scenes", etc. I still had hopes at the beginning when the driver was evading the police. Great suspense, apparently interesting lead character, etc. I started wondering soon after whether staring emotionless was the only thing this guy could actually do. I found that many of the scenes lingered too long on him, with the intended effect of revealing something deeper about him, I guess. But it didn't work for me; I felt nothing for him or anyone else, for that matter. I had the feeling that they were trying to create a character like in Taxi Driver, who is on the edge but is somehow still a person. Not this guy. Like a cardboard cutout. The only lingering thought I had regarding any of the characters was "Man, that Ron Perlman REALLY looks like a monkey".
The movie finally lost me for good when they went for the day out in the canals. 'Lets skip some rocks on the garbage strewn pond'. I could just smell the place, which just ruined any sort of believability there was to this scene. The later car chase scenes were equally weak for me. I just cant handle it when the only thing they can add as sound effects is the car accelerating and changing gears. How many gears does this car have? I counted at least 10... Oh, and when you broadside a car at what must be at least 20 miles an hour you don't just get out ready to whoop some ass. You will be stunned for a good while.
I echo others that say the rating here is baffling and unjustified. I was expecting something with at least a bit more depth than the usual action movie, but all I got was more superficial, oversimplified characters and in-your-face violence.