Momentum | Film review - Olga Kurylenko kicks ass with panache in nippy espionage thriller | Movie Talk | What's on TV

(Image credit: © Signature Entertainment)

Former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko kicks ass with panache as an ex-spy turned jewel thief in this nippy espionage thriller shot and set in South Africa.

Talked into pulling off one last heist, Kurylenko’s heroine discovers she has inadvertently stolen a hard drive revealing the nefarious plans of a corrupt US senator, played in a handful of brief scenes by Morgan Freeman. Unfortunately, her face was exposed during the robbery and James Purefoy’s coolly sadistic bad guy and his associates are soon on her trail.

First-time director Stephen Campanelli has been Clint Eastwood’s camera operator of choice since The Bridges of Madison County and he keeps Momentum moving with brisk assurance, making up for his film’s routine script and modest budget with slick visuals and impressively punchy action.

Certificate 15. Runtime 96 mins. Director Stephen Campanelli

Momentum is available on Blu-ray & DVD from Signature Entertainment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbr2S2o507Q

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A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.