Action Hero MoviesThe first half hour of this movie is Watchable but not entirely pleasant or fun viewing, as the backstory is being built. But half an hour in, when Jason Statham meets the mathematical savant Chinese girl, when he’s on the verge of suicide and sees a load of mobsters tracking her down, and takes it upon himself to help her out, the movie comes alive. Not that the script becomes outstanding, but the action picks up as Statham finds a reason to live, and the mood becomes more watchable as we follow their unlikely partnership as they evade three separate gsngs (the Chinese, the Russians and the cops) all of whom want the information she’s memorised and are willing to go to war over it. Having said that, the moment it gets interesting, it pretty much immediately plateaus. The script and action have already peaked and don’t really get any better from here on out – it only turns into a mess of dry, disorganised action & drama. As such, although it built up to a very interesting point around 30 minutes in, rewatchers can easily be forgiven for skipping the last hour – practically nothing is lost by skipping the end long rote ending, especially if you’ve seen it a few times before.
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