If the plot seems stupid to you, blame the mystery writer Jack Higgins, who's published dozens of books with similar formulaic pulp. I've just uploaded a countless amount of Higgins' books to my dad's e-reader (he's a mystery junkie) and wanted to check out this movie to get an idea of Higgins' writing. Well, it's heavy on cliches and very light on common sense.
But the movie itself, if you disregard the idiocy of the plot and dialogues, is well-made. Feels like big-budget, lots of locations, beautiful scenery, Russians that actually speak Russian (a rarity, as with most other foreigners in movies - is there a deficit of foreign actors in America?). The action sequences are choppy, but the quick pacing and the gorgeous young Pascal Bussiers more than make up for it.