The one serious flaw in the film is that at least half of the dialog is in Xhosa, Afrikaans, or Tswana ( or who-knows-what, South Africa having a dozen or so common languages) with no translations in the subtitles. Some of the dialog switches from English to Afrikaans in the same sentence by the same speaker. It could be said that English is the main language used, but that's just an estimate.
The two actors familiar to American viewers are Forrest Whittaker and Orlando Bloom and they also mix English and Afrikaans in the same sentences with no help in the subtitles. Entire scenes with the criminal gang members and/or the security goons speaking among themselves, conversations and not just a few words, are just unintelligible and I have no idea what is transpiring. The subtitles read "speaking foreign language". That isn't much help for viewers who don't know the language(s) being spoken.
The story suffers from this lack of translation, but the main points of the plot can be guessed, at least some of the time. Actually, it's a foreign language film (to a wide range of people no matter their main language) with no subtitles. It's a good film, the language problem aside.
The two actors familiar to American viewers are Forrest Whittaker and Orlando Bloom and they also mix English and Afrikaans in the same sentences with no help in the subtitles. Entire scenes with the criminal gang members and/or the security goons speaking among themselves, conversations and not just a few words, are just unintelligible and I have no idea what is transpiring. The subtitles read "speaking foreign language". That isn't much help for viewers who don't know the language(s) being spoken.
The story suffers from this lack of translation, but the main points of the plot can be guessed, at least some of the time. Actually, it's a foreign language film (to a wide range of people no matter their main language) with no subtitles. It's a good film, the language problem aside.