Verdict
Summary
The November Man was rather disappointing for me; it has plenty of action and is well paced but it was so by-the-numbers that it will be quickly forgotten. Due to the characters not being all that interesting, I highly doubt this will be the next big action franchise.
Plot: An ex-CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect.
Review: I’d heard mixed reviews for The November Man so I’d delayed going to see it, but as I’m such a big fan of Pierce Brosnan I thought I’d finally check it out.
I have to say that it’s pretty much exactly what I had expected but not entirely in a good way; the story was rather predictable and the characters weren’t all that interesting either.
I did enjoy how badass Pierce was though and his character Devereaux is suitably different from James Bond. He’s ruthless and difficult to root for at first but by the end, you want him to take out the people who betrayed him.
It’s very well-paced and doesn’t let up for a second; there is plenty of action with real explosions… and yet, there’s nothing really inspired about it. It feels by-the-numbers and reminded me of several other movies I’ve seen over the years.
There is plenty of violence and nudity too, which always goes in a movie’s favour… so that certainly helps.
Sadly, Olga Kurylenko doesn’t have much to do and isn’t a very interesting character either. I understood her motivations for revenge but she spends most of the movie being chased and just feels like the damsel in distress.
Luke Bracey plays the bland protégé Mason who is forced to hunt down Devereaux in a game of cat & mouse. Their relationship was hard to believe and the way the story ended was also difficult to swallow. There were odd character decisions which just didn’t work for me and it took away some of the impact.
The acting was decent though and it was good to see a fast-paced Hard R action thriller.
Overall, The November Man was rather disappointing for me; it has plenty of action and is well paced but it was so by-the-numbers that it will be quickly forgotten. Due to the characters not being all that interesting, I highly doubt this will be the next big action franchise. Pierce Brosnan was suitably badass in it though…
