Looks like bank failure isn't the only thing to worry about in the financial world. In The International, one of the world's most successful banks gets its dough from the small arms trade, prompting Interpol agent Clive Owen, doing his normal shtick as the rugged, intense hero, and Manhattan ADA Naomi Watts, foregoing her natural Aussie accent, to go after the bad guys (do the filmmakers really expect us to think that forces from completely different jurisdictions would work so well together?).
Thankfully, for the first time in recent movie history, our two leads do not hook up, but they do kick some serious ass. The script plays like a well-oiled but all too familiar Bourne-wannabe, but thanks to some last-minute re-shoots, there is plenty of action: a mid-movie sequence that takes place in the Guggenheim Museum makes it seem like this flick should be the one titled Shoot 'Em Up. Certainly relevant amidst the current turbulent economy and security-minded international climate, this financial and espionage thriller packs a powerful punch, but it is nothing outstanding.
While the individual components of The International are promising- great cast, awesome scenery, incomprehensible but exhilarating plot- the movie is thrown to waste with a head-scratching conclusion that left the Philly preview audience loudly asking "What the hell just happened? It's over?" Yep, it's over, and I haven't a clue either.
