Oh, what this movie could have been...
A good thriller tied into the Catholic Church set in Seville? Sign me up. I guess that's what I got, but it took too long and was more convoluted than necessary of a ride.
The story revolves around a murder in a soon-to-be-condemned church in the famed Spanish city. A hacker sends a message to the pope to come investigate, so he sends his own priest/agent James Bond to look into it, armed with his own Q assistant and Glock. Heck, yeah, that was what I was looking for. Talk about different!
It shifts gears to a slow burner with very little action or suspense as he's investigating a world of possible money laundering, bickering ex-lovers, secret bank codes, and maybe murder (though that's quickly shoved to the back burner), plus whatever else was in the screenwriter's kitchen sink at the time.
The problem wasn't just with too much subplot, but how it took so long to get there. Pacing was a huge issue. You're busy trying to keep up with new clues that lead in different directions and just seem unnecessary to the main plot. Cutting some of these little twists and gotchas would have made the movie flow better. Ironically, for a movie that I felt was too slow, they wrapped it up insanely fast in the last ten minutes and the credits are rolling while you're still trying to process it all.
Can the directing be great and terrible at the same time? Some shots were inspired, some scenes gripped you, and then they have all these scenes dragged five or ten seconds after they really should have. If I watched it again I'd say the first 1/3 of the movie was a different director than the rest. It was as if he was losing interest as he shot.
A random stranger's opinion: What could have been a great, DIFFERENT mystery turned into a bit of a dud with too many unnecessary twists and conveniences to capture one's attention. Still, it at least tries to do something fresh so it's worth a Hulu stream if you're bored one day.
Grade: C-