good classic spy thriller

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2003)

I haven't read the book, so my views only reflect the impression that this movie gives me, and does not focus on whether it is loyal to the original novel or not.
The film has that air (or arrogance, if you like) of a classy thriller. The music brings out a kind of good old espionage atmosphere , unlike the style of other recent spy movies which focus on gadgets and dazzling the audience with hi-tech. There is still showing off hi-tech in this film, but it doesn't go so far as to degrading the film, because the attention is mainly on telling the story rather than building up to one action showdown after another.
And the story, without having read the book, looks pretty good to me. It's good enough for the film to last two hours without getting the audience bored. The action scenes are good enough, and has a different touch to it, rather than imitating The Matrix like so many other movies have. Anyway, to wrap this comment up, I say if you are a keen thriller fan and haven't seen this film, you should see it, at least once.