Adorably Wacko

Rating: 8/10 (2 July 2008)

(Initially, this comment was deleted by IMDb based on an abuse report filed by another user; following the advice of Ms Molly, from the Help Desk, I posted it again, since IT DOES NOT VIOLATE ANY RULES! Please, do not delete it again; if anyone reports it for abuse, take your time to check and see any complain is unjustified and ill-meant. Thank you!)
It would be a bit hard to translate into English all my review, that I wrote for the Romanian cultural websites CineMagia and Liternet, but on the other hand it might be worth, since I tried to explain there why is so good this nutty super-action hyper-wacko fairy tale. The main merit is the total lack of inhibitions in its system of defying all the known rules: of physics, biology, psychology, society and so on. It's charmingly absurd, in an extremely clever sense.
Further, the humor is involved in a very subtle way, not at all explicit, although obvious. Bekmambetov never presumes to wink at the audience, same as Hitchcock, Spielberg and the most 007 series directors did. He trust us to understand the full import of his mega-joke - and in a very respectful way.
At last, the professional angle is absolutely commendable. Kudos for the extreme carefulness in minutely crocheting this sophisticated farce, masterfully choreographed at all levels. One of my favorite shots was that of Angelina Jolie's hairs gently waving in the draft caused by the bullet circumventing her face - to be later recalled, in a very elegant "Tchekhov rifle effect", in the final (and tragic) trick of he circular gunshot in the rotunda. Definitely, Bekmambetov is a stylist in course of searching his way, and I'm sure we can expect big time deliveries from him, in the future.