Sunday, October 11, 2015

MOMENTUM

Olga Kurylenko     James Purefoy     Morgan Freeman


          Momentum opens with a brutal scene where masked figures in some kind of electronic stealth suits are pulling off a heist in a bank.  They get the bag of goods that they sought, but in a foible one of the robbers gets her mask pulled off, revealing her face.  This is Alex (Kurylenko) who has gotten pulled into the operation through an ex-boyfriend’s ruse, and is unaware of the extent of his plot or that she will now be relentlessly pursued by a master assassin who is after much more than the diamonds that were taken.
              A good two-thirds of the film thereafter is an extended chase on foot and in cars, with numerous crashes on the streets and in garages, some of which are interrupted by torture scenes to get information, and multiple blood baths.  Alex is clearly a trained fighter with a calculating mind, and she ultimately wins the respect of her pursuer, Mr. Washington (Purefoy), although he still intends to get the best of her.
             Periodically, Mr. Washington is in communication with a U.S. senator (Freeman), and it becomes clear that he is the one desperately wanting something, and it’s not the diamonds.  Momentum ends with scenes that obviously are set-ups for a sequel.
             Writers Adam Marcus and Debra Sullivan and Director Stephen Campanelli have created a pretty standard action film, which is characteristically filled with destructive fights, chases, and an underlying spine chiller motive, which seems so attractive to many viewers today.  There is a tiny bit of dialog that is intelligent and entertaining and sheds some light on two of the main characters; but for the most part, we see fights that are predictable in their outcomes.
           Kurylenko and especially Purefoy are good actors who carry their scenes very well; it’s too bad there is not more in the script than the incessant bloody struggles.  Freeman, of course, fills his cameo role perfectly.

An action film with few surprises and little that is noteworthy.

Grade:  C-                                    By Donna R. Copeland

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