The plot: Disgraced bodyguard Michael (Ryan Reynolds) has
been tasked with protecting hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), a key
witness in the criminal trial against dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary
Oldman). As they try and manoeuvre their way to the courthouse, they have to
deal with Dukhovich’s hired goons, the local police and even each other to make
it there in one piece.
Given the story, I’m kind of surprised that the
cast list is as high-profile as it is. I’m also rather grateful because this is
the kind of acting designed to save otherwise lacklustre productions. Reynolds,
playing somewhat against type as the by-the-book and overly prepared protection
agent, gets some good quips in and his handling of the action scenes is at the
level I’d expect from a guy who’s pretty much taken his role as Deadpool as far
into the real world as humanly possible. Jackson, having past experience in
buddy action fare, is a very snug fit next to Reynolds, and along with some
pitch-perfect delivery of his dialogue, his banter and rapport with Reynolds
helps a lot of this film’s weaker
moments.
Salma Hayek as Mrs. Kincaid feels like the kind of role Robert
Rodriguez would have written for her back in the day, full of Latin spice and
more balls than any man she comes into contact with, Mr. Kincaid included.
Richard E. Grant, in an unfortunately small role, definitely leaves a lasting
impression as the hyper-paranoid cokehead client, hinting at some of the themes
of preparation and the surrounding chaos that would get elaborated on further
down the line.
Honestly, the only real low point here is from Oldman as the
genocidal dictator. After seeing him handle kooky and positively psychotic
villains in films past like True Romance and even The Fifth Element, the lack
of screen time combined with his way-too-dignified performance makes what could
have been a fun antagonist into little more than a footnote. But hey, at least
he got to stab a guy through his hand with a pen; that’s the least I would ask.
Last time we checked in with producer
Millennium Films, it was with the woefully racist and wilfully hateful London Has Fallen. To say this film is familiar because of that is both under and
overstating things as, while this only has traces of that same brand of
xenophobia, the plot itself is very
familiar. Millennium Films, or rather their parent company Nu Image, was one of
the bigger companies involved in lower-quality action thrillers back in the day.
This is the same company behind Cyborg Cop and Shark Attack, and the fact that
those films spawned trilogies should give you some idea of their modus
operandi. Sadly, this is no different: Plot involving foreign relations so that
the Amurricans can save the day, heavy emphasis on action setpieces as opposed
to the story connecting them, filming in Eastern European countries to minimize
costs, and that’s just the overview.
The actual film itself, within the realms of buddy action
movies, is so played-out and so recycled that I’m willing to bet most audiences
will be able to predict most if not all of the ‘bigger’ developments well ahead
of time. Add to this the rather glitchy filmmaking, with some of the most
obvious green-screening I’ve seen in a while for a character just standing in
one place while they monologue, and the painfully clichéd music selections that
make the admittedly sweet romantic moments feel outright painful to sit through,
and you have a film that frankly needs
charismatic actors to help salvage it. Honestly, if it weren’t for Reynolds and
Jackson carrying the entire film on the back of their back-and-forth bickering,
this would easily qualify as yet another film that in no way is cinema-grade.
Okay, maybe not entirely because of them. After all, this film’s script landed on
the Black List back in 2011, along with Django Unchained, The Accountant and
Saving Mr. Banks; someone must have seen something in all this beyond just
standard action thriller shenanigans. Even considering this is the same
director who gave us the incredibly misguided Expendables 3, a film that soiled
the term “new blood” for any future use, I’ll admit that there does seem to be
at least something going on aside
from the obvious. Reynolds’ place in the film as the overcautious protector
starts out passé enough, until it clicks in that his status as ‘the safe one’
is heavily at odds with everyone else.
This is where the buddy dynamic between
Reynolds and Jackson turns a bit interesting: The former does everything he can
to prepare for shit to hit the fan, while the latter just rolls with what
everyone else around him is doing and acts before the shit is even thrown. The
best laid plans only work out if everyone involved follows it, and in this
movie, pretty much the only person following the rules is Reynolds. Everyone
else is the middle of utter chaos, with both the police and Dukhovich’s goons
chasing after our leads and no matter how Reynolds tries to set precautions in
place, it rarely works out well for him.
This subtext turns into straight-up text as the main
relationship fully blooms and Jackson essentially tells the audience all of
this upfront, but at the same time, I can still see the merit in it. Given the
near-constant shaky-cam, the grisly blood and broken bones that the camera
doesn’t exactly shy away from, and the frenzied action scenes that, while
clichéd, still hold up to some scrutiny, it seems at least director Patrick Hughes
had an idea on how to present this. Then again, I can’t help but appreciate the
irony involved in my own attempts to watch this movie: After my expected public
transport just plain didn’t show-up, after already buying my ticket, I went and
saw later in the day only to try and get on the bus home… and being the only
guy who couldn’t fit on-board. Kind of difficult for me not to see the
poignancy in saying that even the best of plans don’t always work out.
All in all, a commendable cast, a decent approach to the
action scenes and a few traces of subtextual commentary help elevate this
otherwise disposable action thriller to being at least watchable. I’m not
exactly chomping at the bit to tell others to go see this movie, but if someone
decided to, I can at least see how they would enjoy it for what it is. With how
high the pedigree for action films has been this year so far, this will
definitely fall through the cracks though.
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