Review of The International (2009) by Stuart K — 05 Sep 2012

If there is one thing the modern Bond has done to cinema, it has made espionage movies cool again. Gone are the gadgets, the women (to a degree) and the comic book stealing action set pieces. In is the realism and character driven storylines. Thank God it has happened, because for all its press and media attention, Bond was starting to wane...

If anything can come from this, The International would certainly be a start. Clive Owen (who was once touted as the next Bond) is Interpol agent Louis Salinger. He is tasked with investigating the IBBC, one of the worlds most powerful banks. With terrorism, money laundering and arms dleaing topping the list of naughtiness, Salinger is trying to nail them to the wall. The problem? Anyone or everyone who is involved or knows something ends up dead. Tricky situation then...

What ensues is a film that hardly lets up on pace. Most espionage films fill in the gaps with dodgy dialogue, scripting that is pure stitching for set pieces and elaborate characters. The International ditches all of this and keeps it real. Sure, the direlogue is present on the rare occasion, but the scorching performances of the leads makes you forget this. Owen has never been finer in a lead role, born to play the lead of the on the edge, in desperate need of a break agent who knows that the odds are impossible. Naomi Watts is a fine supporting character, who is happy to sit in Owen's shadow as he burns up the screen. It doesn't affect her though, her brazen attorney standing on her own. particularly in duet scenes between the two.

The International may not be everyones cup of tea. The same could be said about this type of film in general. However, anyone who is a fan of Bond and wants something more gritty and determined, this is that film. Just check out the Guggenheim shootout scene, where Owen is ambushed by machine gun welding nutjobs. Never has a museum been destoyed so gracefully or artistically before in the aid of violence. The look on Owen's face when his colleagues shot artery is unloading on him tells you everything you need to know about this film. It isn't afraid to pull its punches and delivers a film with real emotional heft and wallop. For every second of this scene, your breath will be held, your mouth open, flinching as those bullets fly close to you. It's a powerful scene that perfectly encapsulates the film itself, a reward for sticking with a well crafted, nicely woven piece of cinema.

On this evidence, maybe Owen should have played Bond after all...