Formulaic, contrived, predictable

Rating: Null/10 (6 April 2013)

I don't know how any movie buff would not see the twists coming from a mile away. One can see when a twist is done in a tasteful and careful manner, and when the film makers are desperately trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Credit must be given to Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, and David Bowie for their superb acting. However Christian Bale(who I normally like) and Scarlett Johansson were terrible. A few of my specific gripes: 1. The ending is given away in the first minute. Christian Bale is accused of killing Hugh Jackman. EVERY MOVIE that starts with this presentation ends up with the supposedly accused being innocent.
2. The cat was duplicated. Surely by this alone anyone can deduce that Jackman was also duplicated. Hence the pointless "solving the puzzle" scenes.
3. Mystery/suspense turned into Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories science fiction halfway through the movie.
4. Jackman conveniently tears up the Transported Man secret(which was a driving plot) so he can be shot by Bale's twin brother.
5. Jackman conveniently finds an exact look-alike in a bar.
6. Bale's wife amazingly knows which days he loves her and which he doesn't, in a dire attempt to connect the twin brother twist.
7. I was terribly disappointed with Perabo's death scene and subsequent funeral. These were two important moments in the film and should have been emphasized and given more attention. "What knot did you tie?". "I don't know". "You don't know?".
8. A supposedly "dead" Jackman trots in public without any concern of being recognized to have a contrived face to face dramatic effect with his nemesis.
9. Just get a gun and shoot each other in the back. The movie would be over in 10 minutes and there would be no need for tantalizing sabotages.
To conclude, this movie was made with the intention of "let's get in as many twists and turns possible" rather than "let's tell a good story with a twist".