Set to the backdrop of the falling of the Berlin wall, MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton is sent into Berlin to investigate the murder of a colleague, and recover a list of all known agents. John Wick's David Leitch directs this graphic novel adaptation with a cast that includes Charlize Theron as Lorraine, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Toby Jones, and Sophia Boutella.
The story is told through John Goodman and Toby Jones' characters interrogating Lorraine about the events that occurred in Berlin. As the story she tells unfolds the audience is shown all the action.This is the first area the film did well on. John Goodman and Toby Jones are tied in well throughout the movie and while I don't often enjoy this style of storytelling due to how it can jump out of action, I think the editors did a great job of choosing when to cut back to the interrogation room.
Overall the performances are very good. Theron brings similar grit to her role in the most recent Mad Max film while portraying Lorraine, and performs very well in all of the action sequences. James McAvoy is solid throughout but his character had a large lack of development. Speaking of lack of development, Sophia Boutella is criminally underused. Sophia is arguably one of the top up and coming talents in film right now and is given very little to work with. Despite her proven skill in action roles she is in hardly any fight scenes. Despite her role being so small, she makes the best of it and turns in a solid performance. Goodman and Jones don't have large roles by any means, but as always turn in solid performances, with both of them blending well into their characters.
As one might expect from a John Wick director, the action sequences are stellar. The stairwell scene that has been widely talked about is a long, drawn out, single shot masterpiece. The scene goes up and down a stairwell with Theron kicking a lot of ass, goes into a room for a tense showdown and then ends up in the streets with Theron driving away. Not only is the action in the scene stellar, but it is also done very realistically. After beating on each other for a while, there is a moment where both Charlize and the man she is fighting both stop and take a breath, almost falling over from pain and exhaustion. The blend of good choreography, and realistic fighting makes for some very well executed scenes.
Now onto some of the issues in the film. While Leitch is great at directing the action in the film, he struggles with storytelling. The plot is hard to follow at many times with many details being either ignored or hard to comprehend. This makes it hard for the audience to get invested in the story as it isn't very clear. There are also a lot of times where the pacing seems to just trudge on to the next action sequence. The soundtrack and sound mixing is also very hit or miss. Their are many parts where the music fits the scene perfectly, and mixes with what's going on very well. There are however also a lot of parts where the music doesn't fit the tone of the scene at all, and it is edited at times cheesily and sloppily in these moments. The song Luftballons is played at least three times and gets more annoying every time it comes on. The last major issue I have is an overuse of unnecessary nudity. I have no problem with nudity in a film but there is a lot of it for no reason. The opening scene features Lorraine walking around naked looking at things for no reason, there is a scene where James McAvoy wakes up in a bed with three naked women, and there are many scenes where either Theron or Boutella are sitting around in lingerie for no reason. There is also a part where Theron and Boutella kiss, which turns into a spy trick, but then ends with them having a sex scene that doesn't really add anything to the story.
I think big action movie fans should go check this movie out, as the action is no doubt fantastic. The performances are also very good so I'd say fans of the actors in this movie should also give it a shot. Unfortunately I can't recommend this movie to everyone as the amount of unnecessary nudity and brutal violence may turn people off of it. Overall though, I had a good time with this film and I think action movie fans will as well.
Rating: 3.25/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
The story is told through John Goodman and Toby Jones' characters interrogating Lorraine about the events that occurred in Berlin. As the story she tells unfolds the audience is shown all the action.This is the first area the film did well on. John Goodman and Toby Jones are tied in well throughout the movie and while I don't often enjoy this style of storytelling due to how it can jump out of action, I think the editors did a great job of choosing when to cut back to the interrogation room.
Overall the performances are very good. Theron brings similar grit to her role in the most recent Mad Max film while portraying Lorraine, and performs very well in all of the action sequences. James McAvoy is solid throughout but his character had a large lack of development. Speaking of lack of development, Sophia Boutella is criminally underused. Sophia is arguably one of the top up and coming talents in film right now and is given very little to work with. Despite her proven skill in action roles she is in hardly any fight scenes. Despite her role being so small, she makes the best of it and turns in a solid performance. Goodman and Jones don't have large roles by any means, but as always turn in solid performances, with both of them blending well into their characters.
As one might expect from a John Wick director, the action sequences are stellar. The stairwell scene that has been widely talked about is a long, drawn out, single shot masterpiece. The scene goes up and down a stairwell with Theron kicking a lot of ass, goes into a room for a tense showdown and then ends up in the streets with Theron driving away. Not only is the action in the scene stellar, but it is also done very realistically. After beating on each other for a while, there is a moment where both Charlize and the man she is fighting both stop and take a breath, almost falling over from pain and exhaustion. The blend of good choreography, and realistic fighting makes for some very well executed scenes.
Now onto some of the issues in the film. While Leitch is great at directing the action in the film, he struggles with storytelling. The plot is hard to follow at many times with many details being either ignored or hard to comprehend. This makes it hard for the audience to get invested in the story as it isn't very clear. There are also a lot of times where the pacing seems to just trudge on to the next action sequence. The soundtrack and sound mixing is also very hit or miss. Their are many parts where the music fits the scene perfectly, and mixes with what's going on very well. There are however also a lot of parts where the music doesn't fit the tone of the scene at all, and it is edited at times cheesily and sloppily in these moments. The song Luftballons is played at least three times and gets more annoying every time it comes on. The last major issue I have is an overuse of unnecessary nudity. I have no problem with nudity in a film but there is a lot of it for no reason. The opening scene features Lorraine walking around naked looking at things for no reason, there is a scene where James McAvoy wakes up in a bed with three naked women, and there are many scenes where either Theron or Boutella are sitting around in lingerie for no reason. There is also a part where Theron and Boutella kiss, which turns into a spy trick, but then ends with them having a sex scene that doesn't really add anything to the story.
I think big action movie fans should go check this movie out, as the action is no doubt fantastic. The performances are also very good so I'd say fans of the actors in this movie should also give it a shot. Unfortunately I can't recommend this movie to everyone as the amount of unnecessary nudity and brutal violence may turn people off of it. Overall though, I had a good time with this film and I think action movie fans will as well.
Rating: 3.25/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
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