Foreign Service security officer Kate Abbot (Milla Jovovich) works for the American Embassy (in London, United Kingdom) and she finds herself framed for a terrorist bombing that was meant to kill her and she must evade capture by the government (and being killed by an assassin known as Nash aka the Watchmaker (Pierce Brosnan)).   She has been investigating suspicious VISA applications to the USA that were pushed through by someone at the embassy.   She has few people she can trust including Sam (Dylan McDermott) while the ambassador (Angela Bassett) wants Kate out of the way no matter what the truth is.   Kate races against time to clear her name and uncover the plot that the Watchmaker is involved in.

 

SURVIVOR is a fast paced thriller directed by James McTeigue (V FOR VENDETTA) with great central performances from Milla Jovovich and Pierce Brosnan (who is undergoing a great series of roles recently from ex-spy in THE NOVEMBER MAN to an assassin in this movie).   Milla and Pierce take center stage whenever they are on the screen and especially when they are facing off against each other.   James McTeigue has done a wonderful directing job from Philip Shelby’s script.   The only thing that lets down SURVIVOR is the special effects budget is too small (for a couple of effects shots).  SURVIVOR is worth either a rental or even buying for repeat viewings.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

THE MAKING OF SURVIVOR (5:25) is a behind-the-scenes featurette that looks at how the movie came together, what the cast and crew thought of the script, and the making of the movie with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews

Five deleted scenes (about ten minutes total) show two scenes that could have been left in the movie (including Kate’s romantic relationship), but the other three scenes were definitely cut for pacing and story clarification reasons.

 

Also included on the disc is the theatrical trailer for SURVIVOR and previews for KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN, DAWN PATROL, BY THE GUN, and AUTOMATA

 

FINAL ANALYSIS: SURVIVOR is a great thriller that really shines because of the script, direction, and Milla and Pierce going head-to-head.

 

This review is ©6-24-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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