Watching this again post Dark Knight, it's easy to forget how good a film it actually was, how scary Cillian Murphy could be, the twinkle and humour added by the veterans Caine and Freeman, the intensity of Bale and great support by Neeson and Wilkinson. You forget the satisfaction of the final moment when Bale shows the greedy Rutger Hauer up. Yes, the sequel is better, but this is still an excellent piece of film-making full of good performances (Katie Holmes excepted) and great set-pieces that redefined the genre and paved the way for a truly great film.
tonyotim's Reviews
Displaying Review 6 - 7 of 7 in total
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John Woo goes epic in this story which is part history lesson and part martial arts fighting a la Crouching Tiger. It starts off as though its going to race through all the plot to get to the action and introducing a bewildering array of characters. The dreadful American voice over clashes with the chinese dialogue. However, it then finds its rhythm - pausing for some beautifully restrained moments and leaping forward with some stunningly balletic fight scenes - Woo at his best. There is some beautiful imagery, even if some of the CGi doesn't quite hold up and fascinating battle of wits between the tacticians and then it ends as hurriedly as it began. Not perfect by any means, but beautiful and fascinating in equal measure.
