What a neat concept: taking a routine (albeit captivating) thriller about a detective trying to catch a terrorist, and reworking it into a sci-fi rescue movie. The whole idea's completely preposterous, don't get me wrong, and I can totally understand if the story loses you once Washington enters that surveillance room, but I was able to go with it.
Tony Scott's energy is the glue here. As always, he chooses to emphasize action over everything else, which not only helps the exposition-heavy script go down easier, but it also allows the two genres to mesh as well as they do. And even when it feels like the movie should be starting to go off the rails, he keeps everything mostly believable through his focused pacing and keen attention to detail.
No matter what angle you take with this movie, I'm a fan. I think it works as a Hitchcockian obsession story, as a post-9/11 conspiracy thriller, and as a cracking piece of Bruckheimer entertainment. Maybe the first Scott movie I've seen that I can truly say I enjoyed unreservedly.
Grade: A
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