Morally misguided train wreck

Rating: 3/10 (21 February 2009)

After shooting someone in the head, our hero announces :
"This is me taking back control of my life. What the f**k have you done lately?"
Ahm... I'm sorry?
This was supposed to be just a bit of Saturday afternoon, popcorn munching action, so I wasn't expecting great character development. Just some CGI-laden film aimed at teens who spend most of their time playing video games.
But then...
A dead old lady on a meat hook is used for target practice. We're told that using real bodies is a better way to train. Oh.. okay.
A guy is responsible for a train wreck in which hundreds of innocent people are killed. But they clearly don't matter. We stay focused on the main character, he's clearly more important than them.
These kind of stories are what you get in an alienated, narcissistic society (or at least an alienated, narcissistic writer/director). None of the characters get close enough to one another to actually care, so the lives of others never seem to matter.
Life is a black and white choice between being a weak, powerless pussy, or becoming a hard, brutal killer. Trust no one. No grey areas there.
And the shocking last line of the film is a nail in the coffin.
Unless this is meant to be the blackest of comedies, the message appears to be : If you can't find any meaning in your life, go out and shoot someone.
Even Angelina Jolie's smirk can't save this one.