I Watch Films: Midnight In St Petersburg

 

Midnight In Saint Petersburg

Following the events of Bullet To Beijing, Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) has started a private investigation firm in Moscow. He and Nick Petrov (Jason Connery) are invited to the circus where they’re given some mysterious instructions. It becomes clear that 1000g of weapons-grade plutonium has been stolen from the Russian Government and they’ve been hired to find it – though they don’t know the identity of their employer.

They follow the trail to Saint Petersburg, where unfortunately in the last film Harry managed to annoy both the leading gangsters in the city, Alex and Yuri. Still, when you’re hated by two rivals you can make that work for you and Harry convinces Yuri to assist him, as this will harm Alex. However there is a reporter, Brandy, in the mix, making everything more complicated. And it’s at this moment that Nick gets distracted; his girlfriend Tatiana has been kidnapped. This is a plot aimed at her father, the Curator of the Saint Petersburg Hermitage, in order to steal artwork. However both the plutonium and the art work need to leave the country, and there’s only so many ways to smuggle – the cases inevitably end up linked.

Somehow even further from the Len Deighton-inspired idea of Harry Palmer, this is rather a model 90s spy thriller, slightly lifted by Caine’s performance. The film keeps us in the dark as to what’s going on, until everything comes together, following which there’s some long and not especially inspired action and chase sequences.

Watch This: Entertaining spy thriller, taking advantage of the Russian locations
Don’t Watch This: Just another 90s spy thriller, using Russian gangsters