Little bit too much

Rating: 5/10 (7 January 2009)

We decided to see this movie mainly based on the fairly good reviews it got. First, we saw a trailer which wasn't very promising. But at the end the trailer was pretty much "what you see is what you get". They (the movie makers) were trying too hard, definitely. Characters aren't very layered and it seems to me that some of the cast (e.g. Freeman and Willis) did their part in a routine manner. The beginning is a little bit confusing but as you watch the movie, the pieces fall into place, but in a way that the viewer is able to guess how the movie is going to develop, and especially how it is going to end. It's a formula that has already been in some movies before (revenge of the child for the loss of his parents, etc). Also, I can't really have compassion for the main character in his pursuit to get revenge, because a lot of innocent people get killed on his way. The warmest part of the movie is a connection between Harnett an Lucy Liu, and I'm glad that she survived at the end. Overall, a very overdone, over-trying-to-be-cool movie with mainly predictable twists.