I mean that. Stupid movie, and JUST that. Well filmed, well acted. Okay pretty poor sound editing so the music and some action is too hot and in a dialogue-driven film you often cannot tell what exactly everyone is saying (sometimes you are supposed to get whole sentences Coburn is saying as overheard on the phone!)
But mostly, just a stupid plot, and people who are supposed to act brilliant are very dumb. Even the big end twist to kill Coburn is sort of what you expect everyone to do and that he doesn't see secret-government-death-scientist planning something very obscure as a safety measure seems really dumb on the part of the super brilliant anti-hero of the movie.
But he's dumb otherwise. In principle, having some secret spy ring to get you into power but they know "too much" and there's no plan to get rid of them? I mean, I guess? Badly written movie never seriously sold us on what all these people did, left lots of characters (the reporter esp) sorta there for no reason, and why they all must be killed vs paid off or vaguely threatened since they have been doing all this for years or decades with no problems already?
As happens too much in movies and TV, none of these people actually watch movies or TV or read the paper. There's little more horrible and pursued by the police than: death. The more complicated the murder plots, the less likely you get away with it.
But at least Coburn is a total idiot the whole time. He has this complex plot with ring codes but they go to his office. Which has a big map and he has lists of people to kill and how. In. His. Office. In his apartment. Nothing is in secret unknowable locations. No burn bags. Etc.
At least he also breaks with the plan so talks to people on the phone, goes to people's apartments in time to watch them die. At this point he could have just gone around stabbing everyone and saved himself the cost of the big lucite map of London.
Stupid, boring, pointless. Ultimately literally pointless as everyone (ish) is dead and few of them seem to ultimately matter in the greater scheme of the world so... okay. That happened.
But mostly, just a stupid plot, and people who are supposed to act brilliant are very dumb. Even the big end twist to kill Coburn is sort of what you expect everyone to do and that he doesn't see secret-government-death-scientist planning something very obscure as a safety measure seems really dumb on the part of the super brilliant anti-hero of the movie.
But he's dumb otherwise. In principle, having some secret spy ring to get you into power but they know "too much" and there's no plan to get rid of them? I mean, I guess? Badly written movie never seriously sold us on what all these people did, left lots of characters (the reporter esp) sorta there for no reason, and why they all must be killed vs paid off or vaguely threatened since they have been doing all this for years or decades with no problems already?
As happens too much in movies and TV, none of these people actually watch movies or TV or read the paper. There's little more horrible and pursued by the police than: death. The more complicated the murder plots, the less likely you get away with it.
But at least Coburn is a total idiot the whole time. He has this complex plot with ring codes but they go to his office. Which has a big map and he has lists of people to kill and how. In. His. Office. In his apartment. Nothing is in secret unknowable locations. No burn bags. Etc.
At least he also breaks with the plan so talks to people on the phone, goes to people's apartments in time to watch them die. At this point he could have just gone around stabbing everyone and saved himself the cost of the big lucite map of London.
Stupid, boring, pointless. Ultimately literally pointless as everyone (ish) is dead and few of them seem to ultimately matter in the greater scheme of the world so... okay. That happened.