It's a shame this movie isn't prominent enough to get the cultural analysis it deserves because parts of this movie are just as offensive as scholck like _Not Without My Daughter_.

It's a shame because the highlights of this movie aren't bad. The opening action scene has pretty solid choreography and camera work. Which makes it confusing when later action scenes look like uttery booty milk. The acting was mostly serviceable if the writing had been better. Obviously I don't need Citizen Kane here but ironically everything felt too loose. It would have made more sense for instance if our hero Angela (henceforth known as "The American" because they don't deserve names) had gone with Hassan the cop and THEN had the police not believe her. Instead she just looks like a crazy women in part because she doesn't explain and no one bothers to listen.

These movies always have this fascinating dehumanization of these MENA cultures. Not just in the way they have these stereotypical villains but in how their cultures are strange confusing things that both embrace and are utterly subject to ... well white saviors. If you need to send someone to Pakistan or Morocco and they need to blend in during a chase sequence. You can bet that person will be the whitest least passing least blending character you've ever seen. They will also do basically nothing to blend in. A touch of scarf and that's it.

For every moment like that opening chase fight there's far too many moments where The American is stuck in confusing camera angles and incompetent editing.