Sean Bean is in this film so what happens?? HE DIES! He made it further than he did in 'Goldeneye' when he dies for the first time and he also made it further than he did in 'Equilibrium' but not as far as he made it 'Patriot Games' which probably has to be his longest living film before death. There was nothing spectacular about him, he was a supporting actor who played his part and managed to die without it being a massive deal (afteral, he is a professional at dying).
The plot is easy- a package is wanted by the Irish and the Russians so an Irish agent hires some guys- Robert De Niro (US intelligence), Jean Reno (French) Sean Bean (English), Stellan Skarsgard (English but double agent and really sweedish) and Skipp Sudduth. Sean Bean dies on the job, Stellan Skarsgard gets shot trying to sell the package, Skipp Suduth has his throat cut by the Irish boss and both De Niro and Reno get shot at some point. In short- everyone gets shot or dies Bringing up the rear are Michael Lonsdale (Munich) and Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean, Evita, Tomorrow Never Dies, Game of Thrones).
Lots of action, lots of shooting and apparent spy work. Less shooting and killing than you would expect to find in a Liam Neeson film but marginally slightly more than you would expect from a Daniel Craig James Bond film. No real comedy but a real emotional scene where the Russian trades the life of his daughter, who is a famous figure skater, for the life of Stellan Skarsgard by killing him. His death means that there is no one to call off the sniper and so she dies. I was almost surprised by that call but deep down, even though you didn't want to believe it you knew that it was going to happen, that she was going to be sacrificed for the good of the package which in the end he doesn't even successfully take away with him.
I wasn't expecting this kind of film from De Niro. He is certainly capable of the kind of performance that he put in for this film but is not stereo-typically associated with this type of film- guns, yes- gangster/mafia/mob- yes but agents? Not really. Nice to see something different from him. There was never any reason as to why he couldn't play this type of character but if you ask anyone to name De Niro films the first ones they say will always be along the lines of 'Goodfellas, Casino, The Untouchables, Heat, Score etc and they all have things in common- guns and lots of shooting in a mob environment.
Like it, enjoyed it, keeping it.
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