Mediocre

Rating: 5/10 (7 April 2006)

I saw this movie during a brief stay in London, approaching it with guarded skepticism, given that the mud season is when Hollywood ushers its "second tier" to the markets. The beginning of the movie is promising enough; the opening scene is loaded with atmosphere and brutality, and is followed by some effective set up scenes that outline the plot. That plot, however, turns out to be weak, contrived and predictable. I emphasize the last point, because with a little imagination, the viewer can frame the entire story within twenty minutes of the opener. Not a good sign for a film that relies on twists to entertain its audience.
The weak plot is not the only indictment against this movie. In a deliberate effort to mimic the "cool" of that famous auteur (you know who) of the nineties, the movie relies heavily on irreverent dialogue and subtle pop culture references. Derivative can work - plenty of others have taken the same tact with some success - but in this case it does not. Virtually all of the dialogue is mere filler; there isn't a single memorable line in the movie. The characters, in an obvious nod to Reservoir Dogs, are referred to by (not so) clever nicknames. This attempt at garnering cachet is fitting, because none of these characters amount to more than the vapid stereotypes that such nicknames inform them to be.
That's not necessarily terrible, because a great actor can make such contrivances work. Incidentally, there are certainly plenty of recognizable actors in this film. The problem is, the pieces don't fit, and at no point in the movie are you left with the impression that anyone is trying very hard. Morgan Freeman in particular seems perfectly content to continue the ten year campaign against his acting reputation. On the flipside, Lucy Liu does a credible job as the love interest of someone ten years younger than her, and Bruce Willis is certainly wooden enough for the part of a stoic assassin.
This movie isn't beyond redemption. I didn't walk out of the theatre, and you can kind of enjoy it, so long as you're content to space out for the duration. Its got plenty of flash, but not much else. Its an effectively meaningless exercise and nothing about it changes my impression of spring movies. Just not very good.