strange and basically lame

Rating: 5/10 (1 March 2009)

I'm not even sure what to say about this movie. Yet it was so bizarre that I feel like I have to say something.
First off, the idea and concept are intriguing. The whole loser guy being recruited by some secret fraternity in which he is the new superstar is always fun. It gives every average Joe the idea that it could happen to them. It is a formula that many movies have followed with success. And as with most cases, the hero prevails in the end....
The problem with this movie is its ridiculous action, and mind numbing lack of reality. Flipping cars, curving bullets, seemingly inhuman ability to recover from all wounds because of some wax.....all of it is so contrived and impossible that it takes the movie into places it should just not go. The parting shot where Angelina Jolie kills everyone with one curving bullet is beyond impossible, even if you could curve a bullet. The ballistics and physics of bullets are violated all movie long but this parting shot is just so stupid that it makes the less stupid parts of the movie seem...you guessed it....more stupid.... a bullet from a pistol would not travel through 7 skulls even in a straight line, yet here it does so in a circle?
Even beyond the stupid bullet tricks, was the stupid twists in the plot. The entire fact that these people kill because a cotton loom tells them to via some impossible code it just silly.... Especially given the fact that there is no explanation of why they started following the loom in the first place.
Then there are the plot points that are seemingly forced into the fold as last second thoughts. The main character learns to be a super killer because he gets the crap beat out of him? They seriously teach him to fight by beating him up over and over again within an inch of his life. Somehow that turns him into a calculated killer...again very odd and never explained. And he's killing his father and defending his honor, all in no order that makes sense or furthers the plot.
Oh wait it was explained, by the fact that the hero has the ability to process more adrenaline than normal humans, so he can "slow down" everything he sees....So apparently beating him to near death taught him how to control it. OK well.....maybe......
The acting in the movie was fine, all the characters were believable for the most part. There were even some moments of comedic levity that made you smile. And there were more than a few amazing and fun action scenes. Those elements were OK which was why I gave it a "5" and not a "3".......
The movie should have really been billed as a sci-fi flick, and not an action/adventure spy movie, which is what it seems to be on the surface. But really there was too much impossibility to even be plausible and that takes away from the movie. Some of those impossible elements could have been left out and the plot would still have worked. But the confusing and pointless plot twists were silly and only convoluted the entire thing.