Survivor

This thriller is centred on Kate Abbott, a member of the Diplomatic Security Service, who has recently been posted to the US Embassy in London. Here it is her job to oversee visa applications for those wishing to visit the United States. One day she decides that a doctor hoping to attend a conference in New York warrants further attention... she doesn't know it at the time but he is a vital part of a terrorist plot. Others involved, notably an assassin known as 'The Watchmaker' decide to eliminate her. The bomb used in the murder attempt kills many of her colleagues but she survives. Unfortunately for her she is soon the chief suspect. Kate must now avoid the authorities and the killers if she is to get to the bottom of the plot and prevent the terrorist attack. She will have very few allies.

I thought this was a pretty solid thriller. The central idea of a protagonist trying to stop a crime while on the run from the villains and the authorities is hardly new but it is effective. Little time is wasted before the main action starts and once it does things remain tense till the finale. The action is nicely varied with chases, shooting, fights and explosions. Milla Jovovich is great as Kate and Pierce Brosnan is suitably menacing as The Watchmaker, without tipping into pantomime villain territory. The rest of the cast, which includes many familiar faces, is pretty good too. The film makes good use of London locations without finding a need to show the usual tourist sights. Overall I thought this was a good little thriller; it may not be a must see but it is well worth watching if you enjoy the genre.

I was really looking forward to this film, Director James McTeigue had made me an instant fan with "V for Vendetta".

Pierce Brosnan did an admirable job with the material that he was given, evoking the same ice cold villain persona that he had perfected in such films as "The Fourth Protocol" and "Don't Talk to Strangers".

Milla Jovovich is a decent actress but much of her role involves reacting to situations with close ups of shock/surprise. It was not a good fit.

Supporting actors including Robert Forster and Angela Basset round out the impressive cast but they are largely wasted.

I see 2 main issues with this film:

1) The storyline is very clichéd, especially the predictable 3rd act and much of the dialogue is very stilted. 2) The CGI in many parts is sub par and takes you out of your suspension of disbelief.

Having said all this, I still found it to be a competent thriller worth watching with these caveats.

I am pretty sure that if you have seen your share of thrillers, you will have a great feeling of deja vu while watching "Survivor". The same basic plot has been done many times before. To be fair, there are a few fresh touches, like the fact that the heroine of the movie is not a superwoman, just very smart. And Milla Jovovich does do pretty well in this role. And for what was just reportedly just a $20 million budget, the movie generally looks pretty good. Anyway, I wouldn't have minded that fairly predictable script had the main problem I had with the movie not existed, and that problem is that the movie isn't very exciting or tense enough. There's almost a matter-of-fact feeling throughout. We don't sense that the heroine is in real danger or that something very bad is brewing that could bring a major disaster. Maybe had the budget been higher, the production could have not only put in a few more action sequences, but made them more elaborate, which might have gotten the blood really pumping. This movie really isn't bad, but it's without much needed bite. By the way, fans of Angela Bassett and/or Robert Forster should be warned that they are given precious little to do.

It's a good thriller movie. I didn't understand the negative responses, nor the logics about the scenes many are writing. This is a movie, well, I prefer everyone to watch and judge by themselves. My verdict: I liked this film, it's one time to watch, good movie. Milla Jovovich action is always good to watch, and Pierce Brosnan can never be disappointing with his roles. This is the work of a nice script and direction. Although the film could be better in many ways if we put intense logics in every scene and action. But who cares, for a normal average viewer (i.e. not the critics or someone who looks for the flaws in any movie), this movie will be a good time pass.

Granted this movie may not be anything special and it does not deserve a great rate, but there are a lot of hater answers here which are anything but fair.

The movie is more than watchable. It's an action movie, with not that many twists, (and very few of them unexpected, if any) but has a reasonably good plot, great acting, ok special effects,...

Those rating this movie below 5 don't really know what a bad movie is. This is not. Many of the flaws some reviewers point out are actually no flaws at all.