Disappointing
Summary
Code Name Banshee has a great cast with a scene stealing turn from Tommy Flanagan as the villain. Antonio Banderas is underused and the film looks cheap making it ultimately underwhelming.
Plot: Caleb, a former government assassin in hiding, resurfaces when his protege, the equally deadly killer known as Banshee, discovers a bounty has been placed on Caleb’s head. Now, they must put the past behind them and join together one last time to fight off the secret CIA-backed killers who threaten to destroy them.
Review: This has been sitting in my Prime watchlist for months, and I just haven’t had time to watch it until this past weekend. Code Name Banshee stars Antonio Banderas, Jamie King and Tommy Flanagan so my expectations were quite high.
Sadly, I was quite disappointed with this one as Banderas only has a small role and the film just looks like it has a low budget. You can have a film which isn’t a blockbuster and still looks decent, but this is an ugly film with obvious stunt doubles during the climactic fight and an annoying, overused flickering effect during the flashback scenes.
It is at least around 90 minutes long with several shoot-outs and Tommy Flanagan steals the show as the over-the-top villain Anthony Greene who is just a horrible bastard to everyone. He has no redeeming features, and we just want him to get what he deserves at the end which is admittedly satisfying.
I like Jamie King as she’s ruthless, but still has a heart as our lead, Delilah AKA Banshee. Catherine Davis is also likeable as Caleb’s daughter Hailey who befriends Banshee helping her and Caleb defend themselves against Anthony’s goons.
Despite having plenty of action, Code Name Banshee is rarely exciting, and I found the plot was never particularly captivating. By the time the end credits rolled I was more relieved it was over than anything. The script had no memorable lines and there wasn’t anything to make this stand out.
Overall, Code Name Banshee is disappointing considering the talent involved; at least Tommy Flanagan chews the scenery as the villain and Antonio Banderas never phones it in. It has plenty of action, but nothing that really stands out making this one you can miss.