Rated R
Running Time: 1 hr 51 mins
Cast:
***1/2 out of *****
(92% Fresh Rating!)
Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:
***** out of *****
The Premise:
A Trans-Siberian train journey from China to Moscow becomes a thrilling chase of deception and murder when an American couple encounters a mysterious pair of fellow travelers.
MY REVIEW
Transsiberian is how a thriller should be done. This movie is near perfect in almost every way and is easily one of the best film's of 2008. Sadly it's just another one of those movies that no one really saw in theaters and that will carry on in it's DVD time. Sometimes I feel it's movies like this that should be the big summer blockbusters. Because these really are the highest class of film, but they don't have huge stars and big explosions to get an audience. Movies like this have real quality to them.
The movies first half is nothing but pure build up to something big and not so good. While watching it, you know something is going to happen, but you just can't predict what that will be. For me that made this film incredibly tense. I was expecting something awful to happen, but then it didn't. Then at the right moment, the movie completely unfolds. It's at this point where the story flips and goes in another direction and new characters are introduced. Characters that you as an audience don't really trust but the heroes of the story seem to. We have a murder, a drug ring and characters you really can't figure out. To me that's a brilliant formula for a tense thriller.
A lot of the times for a movie like this to work, it has to look amazing. This movie looks incredible. More than half of the film takes place aboard a train. The cinematography as the camera weaves through the halls and sleeping quarters, is really something great. The camera work adds on to the tense feelings you get while watching the story unfold. It's also full of dull colors just to add to the dark feeling of the film. Even when the characters are in the bright snow, the film making just has a way of creating that darkness. The director did an excellent job creating this world of thrills and suspense.
I was glad to see Woody Harrelson (Semi-Pro) here. He's just one of those guys you see in movies and TV that you always know is good but isn't all that recognized still. I thought he did such a great job in this film. You really love his character in the first half, and then in the second half he does such an amazing job at showcasing the fear and confusion that sets in with the story. I've never been a big fan of Emily Mortimer (Redbelt), she's never really proven herself as a dependable actress. But she temporarily changed my mind after this film. It was her that really carried this film performance wise. She was essentially the main character who has to go through so many feeling and emotions and I was honestly shocked at how well she did. Just based off what I've seen of her before. Really outstanding job. Of course Oscar winner Ben Kingsley (Ghandi, House of Sand and Fog) was awesome yet again. This time playing a mysterious Russian cop. When he's on his game, he's good. No difference here.
I highly recommend Transsiberian to everyone! It's such a tightly wound thrill ride, that will please fans of the genre. Is it wildly exciting? No not really. Are there many chases? Again, no. Explosions? None that I can remember. But not every good suspense thriller has to have those things. In fact, usually the good ones like this don't have those things. This movie certainly did not need any of that to prove itself as a brilliant film!
*This is the 144th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.
*This film is now on DVD.
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