An Entertaining One Time Watch
Summary
Dirty Angels isn’t especially fun, but it does have some explosive action scenes and doesn’t skimp on violence either. None of the characters are all that appealing or memorable so this isn’t something I’d be in a rush to watch again.
Plot: Soldiers in an all-female commando unit pose as members of a relief organisation to save a group of schoolgirls taken hostage by terrorists in Afghanistan.
Review: I’ve been meaning to watch Dirty Angels for a while as Martin Campbell is no slouch when it comes to action; I noticed the film on Paramount+ last night and finally sat down to watch it.
The movie stars Eva Green as Jake, a soldier who is sent into Pakistan with a group of women to rescue some kidnapped schoolgirls. None of which are especially appealing characters, but they feel battle hardened and cynical, so they just might get the job done.
Eva Green is almost recognizable as the tough as nails Jake who rarely shows any signs of humanity, but this does thaw throughout the story, so we are (mostly) rooting for her and her team.
My favourite characters were actually Abbas and Malik as two good-natured brothers who agree to help the women and are some of the few characters to show empathy.
The villain Amir (George Iskandar) is just an absolute monster and his final showdown with Jake is profoundly satisfying and violent.
On the action front, we get plenty of explosions (especially for the climax), shoot-outs and the final fight between Jake and Amir is awesome. This definitely feels a bit Hollywood though and despite trying to be a worthy war movie it really is just a “going behind enemy lines to just a rescue people” tale. It doesn’t really have much to say, but manages to entertain just as an action picture.
I likely won’t watch it again as it isn’t exactly a fun time, never shying away from the kind of brutal violence that happens every day.
The performances from the cast are all solid, but there isn’t much that makes this movie particularly memorable or engaging.
Overall, Dirty Angels has some slick action scenes and Eva Green gives one of her most raw performances. Despite that it doesn’t really have much to say and works as just a straightforward rescue mission tale that rarely brings anything new to the table.