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Written by: Robert Littell (based on the novel by), Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli (screenplay by)
Directed by: James Hawes
Starring: Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Jon Bernthal, Caitríona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Laurence Fishburne, Julianne Nicholson, Holt McCallany
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
When his supervisors at the CIA refuse to take action after his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a decoder takes matters into his own hands.
Verdict
It's a neat concept. Instead of a regular guy that becomes an invincible arms expert in his quest for revenge, we get a programmer that's trigger shy. With that concept this movie does very little. The only interesting kill was shown in every trailer. The movie is so lifeless and boring. With revenge movies, the killings are premeditated but mostly rage fueled. In this, the deaths are elaborate traps that maintain distance between the target and that makes them even more cold blooded. This has the pieces of a revenge movie, but nothing that makes it engrossing, that binds us to the protagonist, or that makes us care. There's just nothing to this, and the hero seems more like a villain with the complex death traps.
Skip it.
Review
Charlie (Rami Malek) works for the CIA as a cryptographer, builds a plane as a hobby, and has a great relationship with his wife. This sets up such an idyllic life that even if you hadn't seen the trailer you'd guess something bad is about to happen. Charlie's wife is killed in a terrorist attack while traveling. Charlie wants revenge, and working at the CIA he knows the group can do just that.
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| Rami Malek plays Charlie |
Charlie asks the CIA to train him so he can personally exact revenge. His managers laugh him off at such a request. He blackmails them with some timely information he receives from a contact. He needs the training and skills to take them out. In the majority of action movies, the protagonist doesn't even need training. Put a gun in their hand and they'll take care of the rest. I appreciate a grounded approach.
While Charlie gets training from Hendo (Laurence Fishburne), it's clear he's not a killer and he's told that. While he's good at making bombs and solving puzzles, when he's looking at someone down the barrel of a gun, he can't pull the trigger. Charlie's going to have to get by on brains not brawn, and that's rare in this genre.
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| Rami Malek plays Charlie |
We're told several times Charlie is very smart, and I'd assume some of these death traps would be more interesting I'd like to see some of the elaborate planning and CIA training at work. This skips that and only shows the results. We never see this ingenious planning. There's also not a reason to root for him. While Malek plays the computer nerd well, the movie expects us to root for him just because he's the main character. Yes, he lost his wife but we only saw them in a couple of scenes. These killings take a fair amount of cold blooded planning. It's not a kill or be killed situation. It's one thing to kill for survival, it's another to root for an emotionless killer.
I wish only three people were involved in Charlie's wife's death instead of four, if so the movie would be over sooner. While I figured there would be some kind of change up for the last kill, this is just so uninteresting. The other problem is that the villains exist just so Charlie has someone to kill. Their motives and actions are ambiguous because they're just plot fodder. We don't connect with the protagonist and we have no reason to hate the villains. Yes, they killed his wife but there is no motive past that.
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