Weak story, fun characters and dashing actors

Rating: Null/10 (21 December 2012)

I feel that with a better writing this could have been a good film. The basic idea itself isn't all that intelligent in that a movie based on this idea is never going to revolutionize your way of thinking or how you see the world. But it's a fun little idea with a clever premise that could allow for lots of jokes, humour and action. And we do get some of that. There are some really good scenes when the first starts to drop hints about the professions of its two main characters. On the whole I actually like the first half of this film a lot more than I like the second half. The first just has more good scenes, better humour and more character moments where we are introduced to these people. The second half is almost nothing more than one action scene after another. They're good action scenes, mind you, but the strength of a film almost always lies on its characters and its story, and we don't much of either of those during the second half.
Though there are some scenes, where the characters of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie come to grips with what they have learned about each other and those scenes do work, mostly because the chemistry between Pitt and Jolie is that good. It's always nice to see two big stars sharing a film. Dueling Stars these films are called and I usually like them a lot, because these stars usually have such a strong presence, especially mega stars like Pitt and Jolie - they're famous for a reason - and that presence usually translates to great scenes where they do nothing more than interact with each other and it's still enormously entertaining. We have that here in abundance.
On the technical side of things, the visual style of this film looks rather good. I especially like the flashback to the day when the main characters met, with its blazing colours and hot atmosphere. And, as stated, the action scenes are great as well. Nothing groundbreaking, but they're entertaining and feel realistically brutal, although they still add in that necessary touch of "no way!" grandeur.
So, is it a good film? Well... no, it's not. It's a bit below average, if I'm being completely honest. Whether you'll like it or not, depends a lot on your taste in movies. If you're looking for good action and humorous storytelling, then you might very well like this just fine. If you demand deep characters and thoughtful pondering, you're out of luck with this film. It's not for everyone, but I was personally entertained by it. If only had it spent more time with its story.