Action Hero MoviesThis is the most comprehensively realistic spy movie I’ve seen by a long way. It combines military and special forces tactics with vip-class banter, sovereignty and underhandedness — to a level I’ve not seen movies do before — not even close. I guess this is designed to coincide with the ‘disclosure’ era.
By 40 minutes in, I realise this movie features not only Jake Gyllenhaal a baddie from Spider-Man (2019), but also Henry Cavill ie Superman himself (2013-2023), among other strong characters including the attractive lead female Eiza González. And it’s not got boring yet. So what began looking set for a Below Average rating has turned into something much more solid and now it’s looking set for Average or above.
By the end of the first hour it’s already looking like a cross between a firepower-heavy Expendables movie and a theory-heavy Mission Impossible movie. The first serious bit of action didn’t come till near the end of the first hour but it wasn’t too late and it didn’t disappoint so at the one hour mark this movie is looking set for a Decent rating — a couple levels above average already. I’d call it a chilled action thriller. It’s got a cosy niche cult style to it, similar to Hackers or The Net, but obviously more modern. It even features an aging Fisher Stevens, the main baddie from Hackers, as the main villain’s lawyer and administrative assistant here.
The second hour begins with an interesting plot twist as the untouchable-until-now gets kidnapped and triggers an emergency beacon to her friends.
Some of the physical movement is so casual in the middle of a firefight. There’s a lot of strolling around the battlefield without concern. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn it’s made by AI, although it could just be bad acting, as in shockingly gappy battlefield choreography, but it’s a minor issue and doesn’t detract from the general mood very much. It’s still pretty good overall, especially on the bulk scripting side — exactly what AI would probably do best.