This is primarily a historical / sci-fi thriller movie, with good action, but it also verges on borderline horror, with zombies etc — similar to Blade in this regard; and like Blade, it just about qualifies for listing on this site due to its good action content and being not so unbearably horror.
The action and general production here is of a good standard, but the horror factor is a bit unpleasant to say the least. In a way it’s barely watchable, but I’m going to rate it Above Average in the end.
Tom, Annabelle, Sofia and Russell all deliver strong performances in this movie, as expected.
Reviving their partnership from Hotel Artemis, it’s a pleasure to see Dave Bautista and Sofia Boutella working together in another strong assassin-themed movie. Unfortunately, the quality isn’t as good as the last one though.
Popping pills, pushing chemo, and promoting suicide as a response to hearing from the top of a search engine that there’s no cure to a disease… Callous murder left, right & centre, with blood splattering everywhere… There’s plenty wrong with this movie. It’s all typical of Hollywood though.
On the plus side, Dave Bautista is a convincing alpha male, playing a very well trained & well skilled assassin. And his new found love, Sofia Boutella, is not a bad actress either. So if you can overlook the usual BS – it’s a pleasant, well made story, which seems to be some kind of late prequel to the mild classic that was Hotel Artemis.
It gets a bit dull at times – it has some slow patches and lacks serious plot early on as well as later on.
Several bits of filthy smut too – mainly but not exclusively verbal. Hollywood is increasingly promoting degeneracy these days and this movie proves it – it’s meant to be a cool action hero movie.
Interesting plot twist shortly after 40 minutes in, when Bautista’s doc texts him and says the diagnosis is wrong, he’s going to live. But he’s already put a hit contract out on himself, so his girlfriend can get his life insurance payout, and the hit is due to begin in less than 5 minutes, and assassins are coming from far & wide to take him out.
Although this movie has a lot of potential, considering its on-point genre, its intriguing early plot and its strong star power (with supporting roles from the likes of Scott Adkins and Mark Zaror – a nice partnership from the Undisputed movie saga); by the last half hour it becomes clear the overall performance is actually sub-par, no thanks to the script having disappeared long ago, and the constant bad music is kind of irritating. Certain actors are over-doing it too, making it veer on the edge of satire, and Scott Adkins is one of those guys but the worst offender is the Ali G impersonator whose name I don’t even wish to look up, and that’s coming from an Ali G fan – but Ali G has poise and class in his acting down, unlike this guy who seems best suited to B movies and soap operas – god knows how he got so much screen time here. So while I initially thought this movie were set for a score somewhere Above Average – maybe even Decent – I have to conclude in fact it’s slightly Below Average overall in the end, and that may even have been too generous a rating, but the very ending its its saving grace. The ending is on a par with the best of when the plot thickens early on. In this way, the movie really swings between a bit strong and a bit weak, but considering all the classics I’ve rated Bang Average and even less for many, I can’t justify rating this one any better than slightly Below Average, so there it is.
Terry Crews adds good value to this movie, as do several other cast members.
Hotel Artemis is a novel concept that works quite well with the help of stars like Jodie Foster who plays the friendly but strict old lady who runs the hotel; Jeff Goldblum who plays the feared hotel owner and local mafia boss; Sterling K Brown who plays a lead role as a criminal taking refuge in this secure hotel for member criminals; Sofia Boutella who plays a deadly assassin; and of course Dave Bautista who plays the hotel’s one-man security force.
The action scenes are plenty, although there are some slow drama scenes between, which make this movie a bit less entertaining for action junkies, especially when it comes to rewatching it before having very well forgotten it.
Although the basic concept is an interesting one, that seems quite creative and exciting, the plot is otherwise barely existent, so this movie is barely a fraction of what it could be with the current cast and a much more substantial script.
Overall, I rate it pretty good for first time viewing, and decent enough for rewatching every few years.
Action Hero Movies