Good action, good story. Bad image of Russians.

Rating: 8/10 (29 January 2011)

Just watched the BlueRay of this movie and I really liked it. Good action, exceptional acting, good story. Not a mind blowing, but still interesting.
I've also listened to the director's commentary for the movie where he said that the Russian people had a negative reaction after watching this movie. In particular, that they were offended of the way Russians are shown in the movie. Well, I hope the director reads the reviews on this website and I would like to make a tiny remark. He completely missed the point of why they were offended.
It was not due to the fact that Russian government had (or has) spies in the US, but due to the image he gave to the Russians in his film.
1. Russians don't address each other as "comrade". Never did. 2. Russians don't drink vodka on every other occasion. And certainly don't carry a bottle on their person just in case. In fact, Russians drink more beer than vodka. 3. Russians don't kiss each other as a form of greeting. Only if they are very good friends (or would like to seem so) or relatives and either both girls, or of opposite sex. Russian men never kiss each other, even if they are best friends or relatives. Male relatives kissing is much more common in Europe and even US, than in Russia. 4. The Russian spies that were caught in the US last year were not observing the life of US. Any simple person can do that without being a spy. For example, I often talk to my relatives in Russia and tell them how I live in the US and how life in the US is in general. Of course, I don't tell or know any secrets; THAT is the spy's job.
Also, just a side note to others, who might only know about Russia by films such as this one: Russian people don't dream of attacking US (or any other country for that matter). They have problems of their own. So please, stop exploiting these beaten-to-death stereotypes in the movies. Otherwise, the cold war will never really end.
Other than that -- great movie. Enjoyed it very much.
Just to clarify: I am Russian and lived in Russia for 26 years.