…The villian.
I liked the movie in general (to my surprise, as I disliked the first two) but I loved the villian.
Not because he was played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, although that certainly helped, but because he was the first realistic spy movie villian I can remember ever seeing.
In most movies like this the villian is evil and manic, or evil and eccentic, or evil and funny, or some other strange combination. The villian appreciates classical music, fine wine, or beautiful women, and one of those is a weakness. Or the villian wants to blow up the world. Or the villian has a great sense of humour.
But this villian was none of those things. He was a sociopath, full stop. He did not joke around. He was not elegant, or brilliant, or a ladies’ man. He was a thoroughly evil, conscious-free bastard who wanted money and would kill you to get it, and he wasn’t going to waste your time or his. That was all there was to it.
Any other spy/adventure movies have villians like this?