Terrorists and nukes and Russians, oh my! Wait...you mean the Russians aren't the ones with the nukes in this one? Hmmm...might have to re-think this a bit. You see, as an American, I've grown up being assured that if Russians are present in a movie they'll almost always be the bad guys (or at least the ones who ruin it for the rest of us). Don't get me wrong...I've never bought into this ideal. I've visited Russia and took Russian up to the intermediate level in college. But this movie really just gave me a refresher in my Russian which isn't terribly impressive seeing as how it should've been entertaining me instead.
All in all this film feels a bit disjointed. It's very straight-line thinking. Bad guys have nukes that are stationed in different cities around the globe and can be set off by a transmitter if the user has the proper code. Fair enough. The problem is that there's no subplot or context...it's all linear from that point on. The action is done well and the film kind of feels like a Bourne flick with Jason Bourne replaced by a hot Russian female FSB counterpart (and just when I get used to the KGB they ditch that in favor of the FSB. Why Russia, why?!). To be honest, even with all of my issues with the movie, it gives me hope for Russian cinema. It can be hard to find good Russian films in the states, but that seems to be (very slowly) changing. This isn't a love it or leave it kind of film...it left me feeling pretty indifferent about pretty much the whole thing. But in the end I suppose that's better than outright hating it.
