Stratton

Dominic Cooper plays Stratton, an elite agent working for Mi6 who is tasked with taking down a terrorist who is planning on releasing a deadly nerve gas over London.

It has decent action scenes which are well filmed and bloody and Cooper is a good looking and charismatic lead. It's directed by Simon West who also made Con Air and The Expendables 2 so there's no issues at all with the action scenes.

At times though it's small budget and scope betray it as during the slower, more talky scenes it feels a bit like a TV movie.

It won't blow your mind but if you're looking for a good time action movie which is a very easy watch then check it out.

I didn't regret it.

Right from the beginning this had a straight to DVD / TV feel to it. An excellent cast seem wasted and Connie Nielson is totally miscast with a horrible accent, I usually like her too. Like others have said, the action scenes are poor and the music was awful and brought nothing to the Film, maybe they didn't have the budget. At one point Chen's character mentions NATO rounds being 7.62, when they are now 5.56, but I am just being picky. Any way I lost interest after about 30 minutes. I have liked Simon West's movies in the past but he has seriously lost it of late. On the whole a Sub Par effort.

Honestly this movie just felt like it was ticking off a checklist. Gun shoot out. check. Car chase. check. Underwater scene. check. It just kept going.

I went into the film with a good expectation especially from such a well known cast, but it fell flat. No chemistry among the cast, Dominic Cooper just didn't have the presence or physicality you would expect of a SBS Agent. The villain was underwhelming and even at the end of the film I'm still not sure what the motive was.

Even with all the great locations and scenery, it couldn't carry the bland and unimaginative story line. Do not watch.

I think reviewers are being a little harsh about this film. It's an action thriller featuring the SBS, MI6 etc. Mainly British cast with a couple of token Americans. Gemma Chan is superb, with a different actress her role wouldn't be memorable but she really helps things along. Derek Jacobi, unsurprisingly good. Unlike many reviews, I think Dominic Cooper did a good job, especially given the lack of time he had to prepare for this. Connie Nielsen however was an odd choice, her posh British accent varied in intensity and felt awkward. You can't compare this to a big budget Bond/Bourne/Mission Impossible, but I found it entertaining.

Enjoyed this more than I expected to. I've read the authors autobiography (Duncan Falconer) so was intrigued to see his fictional Stratton brought to life. Of course, it's a crowded market place and comparisons to Bourne and Bond are inevitable. I found most of the acting convincing, Sumner's character less so as some of the relationships between the characters. Plot development is difficult in the constrained 1h 50m time frame. Nevertheless, the action vs. storyline struck the right balance.