Review of Newsmakers (2009) by Jy S — 11 Feb 2011

Anders Banke's Newsmakers gives Russia a suitable enough entry into the crime drama genre.Closely based off of the Johnnie To film, Breaking News, the story contains a little twist to the cops and robbers concept by heavily involving the media as a third player.

This brings something different to the table, although the overall tone of the movie is disrupted by the way it is handled. There is a little too much emphasis on the use of "creating a show."The action sequences are a positive.

The shootouts are well-crafted, lengthy, and spread out throughout the entire picture. The sound effects for the guns also provide that extra kick to the battles.The acting is acceptable all around, but a number of characters lack sufficient development to really mean anything.

Mariya Mashkova probably gets the most build up, but she isn't entirely likable. Andrey Merzlikin and Yevgeni Tsyganov end up with the other notable characters of the film.Newsmakers has the action and an interesting concept with the story.

It doesn't come across as an extraordinary piece of work, but it is a watchable film out of Russia.