Turysta

The Tourist is a film that wants to be exciting, romantic, irresistible and clever, but it’s just bland. At most, it has a nice retro feeling. As a marketing-driven movie, it’s not boring, but it still makes you feel that you only paid for an exhibition of stars, costumes and Venice. A VERY hesitant three stars. (29.01.2011)

For no reason, a permanently serious looking Angelina gets on a train and, following the instructions of her criminal mastermind boyfriend, picks up a random sod (Johnny D), who will find himself up to his neck in trouble. This is the setting for either a brisk conspiracy thriller or a thrilling adventure comedy, but not both! That’s exactly what the script tries to do, but the result is a boring circus that sinfully squanders the talent of its two stars. I don’t like Angelina and Johnny very much, but they do have good films under their belts. The creators of The Tourist, unfortunately, were satisfied with having both stars on the screen – no need for acting. The shocking twist takes the previous events to a completely new dimension that definitely puts the film in the category of “second-rate WTF crap”. (26.01.2011)

The whole movie was actually about mocking the naive tourist and the fancy dresses that accentuated Elise's beautiful background:-) About halfway through the film I was thinking OMG, who decided to totally destroy Johnny Depp...but then came the lovely, if somewhat predictable, ending and I clapped, smiled, and said Bravo, you wicked movie :-) A beautiful 4 stars. (11.02.2011)

When watching the movie with a friend, he looked somewhat hesitant and then said: "An unbelievable mess. I don't understand what it is supposed to be, maybe some kind of parody of Bond movies? Thanks to the critical reviews, I managed to avoid this film during the premiere, but as it usually goes, I couldn't escape it. Now I fully understand the fervor with which Ricky Gervais sarcastically mocked this film and its actors during the Golden Globe Awards and the hesitant smiles with which Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie responded. The multiple Golden Globe nominations, in contrast to the dismal outcome, belong to the biggest mysteries surrounding this film. I read in a review that Angelina has never acted this poorly before and although I haven't seen her entire filmography by any means, I can essentially confirm this. Basically, the same can be said about Johnny Depp. I can't recall any blockbuster where the chemistry between the main characters didn't work this blatantly. It's as if they were each filmed separately and later digitally inserted into the shared scenes, of which there are unfortunately many. Angelina also overacts and as a result, it's more like a parody of high society and social status of a lady rather than a fully developed character. This film is the most boring of all and it probably shouldn't even be classified in the genre it wants to be in, i.e., a spy thriller lightened with comedic exaggeration. If they (significantly) increased the speed when it comes to humor and irony, then it could be a parody of Bond movies and similarly themed films. I discovered director von Donnersmarck in his excellent psychological Oscar-winning thriller The Lives of Others, but this is a complete departure and overestimation of his own abilities in every aspect. If an unknown director with unknown actors had made it, I would give it 2 stars, but this is supposed to be a blockbuster and the self-confidence bordering on pomposity is far too obvious compared to its below-average impression. Overall impression: 25%. (08.08.2011)

In reality, Venice isn’t that pretty. A movie full of faking and intrigue where you have characters and a viewer. Depp is pleasantly dumb and Angelina unusually noble, but there’s just no chemistry between them. Even though a couple of nice scenes and good camera offer beautiful (but fake) shots of Venice, Henckel von Donnersmarck didn’t do a good job here. (20.02.2011)

I have the feeling that all the new additions to the genre of “super smart and cool sleek film” are just roses on the grave. What Ocean’s Eleven and similar films started in the late 90s and the early 00s, gets buried after about a decade with pieces like The Stranger. The Actors are chosen based on their looks, the luxury hotel, and the wealthy and arrogant style is here because there is a lack of a cohesive script and quality direction, and the setting of Venice is indeed magical, but if it were, for example, Kiev or Bratislava, it would be boring. This is really exhausted, let's move on. (09.10.2011)

I was expecting The Tourist to be worse. The worst thing, in my opinion, is that the screenwriters couldn't create a suitable mix of all the genres they wanted to have in the film, and so this very pleasantly shot thing with beautiful cinematography and a good Newton Howard soundtrack just keeps bouncing between the words "Action / Drama / Thriller" and doesn't stay with any of them long enough to really entertain the viewer. That’s too bad. However, I can't say I was bored when I was watching it. Three and a bit stars. Slightly above average. (25.05.2011)

No, let's talk about it, this movie mainly impressed me with Venice, which I visited myself during the premiere of this movie. Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie definitely don't deliver a great spectacle, just a slightly action-packed movie that is also a bit funny at times. But that's still quite little for it to be indelibly etched in one's memory. (27.02.2014)