MegaCritic Watch: The International

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film its highest rating on Megacritic.com of 75 out of 100, or 3 out of 4 stars. He highlights how this film touches on most people’s frustration or even anger over the banks and Wall Street during this financial downturn. This bank, out of Luxemburg, uses its funds to back African rebels, nuclear armament, and both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thus comes the Interpol agent played by Clive Owen to fight this evil bank. While Owen has the necessary macho beard, as Ebert says, he plays this hero as an almost human, which is refreshing. Watts plays a lawyer, and the blonde, yet Ebert says that she "plays up her character’s legal smarts and plays down the inevitable possibility that the two of them will fall in love". Ebert says it’s a smart story with some really great shots that in which "Hitchcock would have envied".

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly also mentions how this film may connect to the public during this financially trying time. She gave the film 67 out of 100. She says that Owen’s acting is just a replaying of the "Children of Men school of despair". She calls Watts’ acting "low-energy", however those playing the bad guys, including Mueller-Stahl, dependably good. In the end, New York’s Guggenheim Museum and Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar may end up being the real stars, because of the action shots filmed there.

Steven Rea of the Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film 63 out of 100. He also mentions how this film should resonate with audiences because of its subject matter, but falls short due to its start and stop action. He makes a reference to Tykwer’s previous film, Run Lola Run, and how suspenseful it was and how it really marked Tykwers’ entry into the cinema world. Yet, this film fell short due to so many shots of characters sending a text message, checking a voicemail, or watching a banker transfer millions of dollars on his computer. He mentions the exciting shot-outs in museums, and the extremely modern-looking architecture, but that they can’t carry the movie.

A.O. Scott of the New York Times gave the film 40 out of 100. Scott spent most of his review listing off other directors that would have done a better job at various scenes in the film. The main draw backs to this film were the director’s style and the "howlingly bad dialogue". The film had so much promise, such a chance to make a statement about modern financial problems, but it had been squandered by just watching Owen and Watts jet-setting around Europe and New York. He finishes with "the International is rated R…it has some swearing and a narrative that may undermine the faith of children in the global financial system".

Joe Morganstern of the Wall Street Journal gave the film 20 out of 100. Morganstern said the film went "through the motions of a spy film". There were plenty of motion shots, but the plot was "unfathomable". He says the characters are unpleasant and the assassinations leave the audience cold. Owen was angry the entire time and Watts plays the attorney role "doggedly". The cinematography was a highlight, yet Morganstern says that Tykwer’s previous films was the only reason he going about this "hollow new charade".