Very clever, entertaining science fiction thriller that would have been even better with excellent actors - like say Ryan Gosling, de Niro or Sean Penn. Okay maybe that's harsh - Joseph Gordon Levitt and Brue Willis are strong actors it's just these roles are so great (hit men who are tormented by love, angst, drugs, the past, revenge, etc) I feel they aren't really given justice, even with Levitt's make up work.
Emily Blunt shines in a part that is better than the typical girl role (that part is taken by the admittedly sexy Piper Perabo who is a stripper single mother); the kid who plays Blunt's kid is brilliantly creepy; top turns by Royal Dano but not Jeff Daniels who keeps popping up in parts that require real strength. I know Daniels is a good actor but sometimes that's not enough. There are two coincidences which jarred for me - the involvement of Piper and an appearance at the end by a semi villain.
That's all the gripes out of the way. Now for praise: superbly done, combining emotion with imagination, good action sequences, a very believable depiction of the future (grimy, class riddled, drug affected, in thrall to China). Really excellent movie.
Good review Bob. The plot makes perfect sense even if it may seem a bit confusing at first, and the suspense draws you in but something just did not mix so well in the end. I didn’t really care all that much for the characters and that’s sort of why the pay-off didn’t do much for me.
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