MOVIE REVIEW | ‘The International’ high in intrigue, low in thrills

It’s hard to fight a corrupt system, especially when that system is international.

When INTERPOL agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen “Sin City”), investigates the world’s largest international bank, he uncovers illegal activity from money laundering to arms trading.

As an epicenter for international terrorist business deals, the bank consequently has the power to take over the world, especially when countries fall into their debt.

The first few scenes of the movie set a fast pace.

One of the Salinger’s fellow agents is murdered moments after meeting an informant from the bank, thus beginning an action-packed movie, right?

Turns out, not so much.

The initial shock of the murder passes and is unfortunately followed with long scenes of dialogue. The dialogue does allow for the movie to follow a decent pace, but the film definitely isn’t as fast-paced as the initial scene suggests.

It can be easy not to pay close attention to the dialogue after such an exciting beginning, but not focusing in right away can only lead to confusion for most of the film.

Salinger teams up with New York’s Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts, “The Ring”) in a globe-trotting affair in order to bring the bank to justice.

The duo travels to five different countries in their attempt to bring the bank to justice. The beautiful countries featured in the film are enough to make anyone want to go on an international adventure.

One of the most unsettling aspects of the bank is that no one is safe, not even the bank’s own terrorist employees, one of whom is a political assassin.

As soon as Salinger and Whitman become close to narrowing in on a bank employee and figuring out the truth, the bank swoops in to murder its own employees before Salinger can make them talk.

Salinger struggles to fight a corrupt system while staying in the system, which only leads to dead ends, or people for that matter.

It’s difficult to watch “The International” without the United States’ own corrupt banking troubles in mind. This raises interesting and frightening questions of whether corruption at its highest level can be stopped, even in reality.

There is one solid action-packed sequence, a shootout between Salinger, a political assassin, and other gunmen from the bank who are supposed to kill the assassin.

Besides that scene, the movie remains driven more by dialogue than action. Audiences may find themselves craving at least one more big action sequence. After all, the bank is dealing missiles to volatile countries.

“The International” is a solid political thriller that’s one showdown short of being a quality action movie.

lifeline@cm-life.com