'Spy Game' Review

This is a brief review of the espionage thriller 'Spy Game'.

'Spy Game' follows Robert Redford as a convert spy, trying to work in secrecy of his agency to save his protege and partner who has been taken captive. While his employers do not agree with his intentions, the main antagonists being partners in the job itself, Redford manages to secure the help of army officers through mysterious methods.

I personally think 'Spy Game' is not an example of a good thriller, and I was certainly not satisfied by the finish.

One of my mann gripes with the film is its special effects editing. 'Spy Games' features extremely stylized sequences throughout the film. For instance, it typically, to transition from one scenario to another, pauses the current action suddenly, removes colour from the shot, and overlays it with very spy-like typography revealing details like time and place. While these features are successful in portraying the sub-genre extensively well, making quite clear the espionage aspects, they completely detach any sense of realism: one of the biggest features of a thriller is the sense of the mundane and of real life -- that these scenario could occur to normal people and it is unsettling. This editing is very dramatic and over-the-top, enforcing the belief that this film has no place in our every day life.

Another lacking thriller staple is theatre of the mind. While a somewhat linear narrative hides specific details from us to allow surprises in the climax, none of these are particularly thought worthy or interesting; details like Redford's character purchasing a hope as a rouse. The only scenario which may be considered theatre of the mind is the torture of Brad Pitt's character. However, this is barely even alluded to, especially lacking in specific scenarios, and thus has no real effect. Moreover, the film lacks any real edge-of-your seat excitement and tension that would you expect from a thriller. During the film's climax as Redford's attempts to free Brad Pitt are revealed, the story is presented in several drawn out scenes involving Redford's agency as well as him working in his office. These scenes only drag the film outwards, remaining considerably boring, and rather than utilizing action and high amounts of suspense and tension to end a film, instead it's just easy to mistake this area of the film as a simply somewhere in the middle -- it seems quite insignificant.

While it may be accepted as an enjoyable espionage -- even action -- film, I believe 'Spy Game' lacks the elements that form the thriller genre, and make it as good as it is, and consequently I am not a big fan of it.