Newsmakers kicks off in ultra-ballistic mode with a squib-tastic shootout between cops and gangsters, like a Hong Kong heroic bloodshed movie, but instead of Chinese extras in white suits being despatched in bloody fashion, it's Russians in casual/sports wear (yes, there is an Adidas tracksuit). It's all a bit John Woo-ski. Indeed, I discovered afterwards that the film was based on a Johnnie To movie called Breaking News; I knew there had to be an HK connection somewhere.
The gangsters in the opening exchange of bullets make their escape in an ambulance and hide out in a concrete apartment building, but are soon rumbled by a local cop. Taking hostages, the criminals bide their time while sexy PR woman Katya (Mariya Mashkova) turns the situation into a media sensation to try and improve the public image of the police. Meanwhile, tough cop Major Smirnov (Andrey Merzlikin) disobeys orders to stand down and risks his life to bring the armed thugs to justice.
Blistering scenes of gunfire and explosions punctuate the movie at various intervals, but, for the most part, Newsmakers is less action and more of a wry swipe at how the authorities control the way that events are portrayed in the news, Katya distorting the truth to suit her needs and to please her superiors. All of this is reasonably absorbing, but to be honest, I would have preferred less critique of the media, and more of the blam blam, rat-a-tat-tat, and kablooey, 'cos director Anders Banke handles the action better than the drama (I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for his upcoming WWII movie, Enemy Lines).
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.
The gangsters in the opening exchange of bullets make their escape in an ambulance and hide out in a concrete apartment building, but are soon rumbled by a local cop. Taking hostages, the criminals bide their time while sexy PR woman Katya (Mariya Mashkova) turns the situation into a media sensation to try and improve the public image of the police. Meanwhile, tough cop Major Smirnov (Andrey Merzlikin) disobeys orders to stand down and risks his life to bring the armed thugs to justice.
Blistering scenes of gunfire and explosions punctuate the movie at various intervals, but, for the most part, Newsmakers is less action and more of a wry swipe at how the authorities control the way that events are portrayed in the news, Katya distorting the truth to suit her needs and to please her superiors. All of this is reasonably absorbing, but to be honest, I would have preferred less critique of the media, and more of the blam blam, rat-a-tat-tat, and kablooey, 'cos director Anders Banke handles the action better than the drama (I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for his upcoming WWII movie, Enemy Lines).
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.