Quite an impressive movie to say the least...

Rating: 7/10 (15 September 2015)

I will start by saying that this was quite an impressive movie to say the least. The opening scene started like a first chord of a Beethoven music sheet – strong, cool and impressive. The spectator knew then somehow that he would be in for a strong ride.
There is no point denying that the scenery is just absolutely stunning -- magnificent -- exceptional. That point must certainly constitute the strongest part of the movie. It compliments extremely well the action scenes. A slick, neutral but also extremely dry and rough environment in which the characters can go about in their own groups or one against another flawlessly.
While it also true that I read that the movie did lack a clear story or that it wasn't strong enough, a fact which is somewhat true, I do think this was personal take of the writers to privilege action more than the intellectual part and I think it did work well. This would have been atrocious to combine such impressive actions scenes with boring dialogs.
The story in itself is doubtlessly quite basic and the whole of it turns somewhat around a pursuit. I did have a hard time picking up on the plot which was quite confusing until some point where you actually get the actual gist of the thing but I do feel however, and in comparison to other movies of the same genre, that it plays positively in the hands of the movie. One of the things that I particularly hate with action movies is the fact that you can read the story before it even starts. It did not feel that way with this proposition.
Focusing on some of the characters, even if some of the character's roles were quite limited in regards to the overall weight they played in the story, certain surprising actors such as Abbey Lee Kershaw delivered. One has to know that she does not initially come from acting but was an ex-model. And for one of her first blockbusters, have to admit that she lived up to the expectations. Her unusual distinctive beauty and cold naturally captivating distance that was her strength in top modeling served her quite well there. She was much more convincing that I thought she would because she was tailor made for this role.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was not bad either though I thought she could have been a little bit better. It's actually a pity that her role did not last long enough to really have a serious idea about her in this particular movie.
To finish on this particular point, the depth of characters and persona throughout is really just superb. I don't think I've ever seen a movie with such a large palette of personalities of all kinds. It comes from bizarre repulsive looking people, to normal looking individuals, to beautiful ethereal nymphs all cohabiting in a very hostile environment.
The sustained action scenes raise two aspects. First a positive one. The movie is fast pace and there is no time for bore. The action scenes go from being extremely artistic at times, to jaw dropping [...] with the help of slick well shot scenery to complement them.
I'm not much into action movies to start with but this one I have enjoyed a lot to say the least.