Disappointing
Summary
Milla Jovovich is a complete badass in the lead role, but the wonky production choices, as well as a terrible story twist, lessen her impact.
Plot: After her daughter is kidnapped by human traffickers, retired army veteran Nikki Halsted (Jovovich) goes on a mission to find her.
Review: I love me a good revenge thriller. Be it Charles Bronson or Liam Neeson coldly gunning down baddies who did them wrong, there’s something inherently satisfying about watching vigilante justice. I don’t condone it, I don’t promote it, and perhaps it speaks to a mistrust in our justice systems, but damn, it feels so good to directly get retribution on those who wronged you. So, despite the rumblings and my own observations that this was probably a Taken clone, I didn’t care. I wanted to see Milla kick some ass.
Did she? Yeah, she does. The body count is high in this one, and Milla is at her cold, scowling best. Unlike most girl boss movies, I think Milla has earned enough of a rep through her action work to get a pass. She’s a statuesque, blue-eyed terminator, and for one thing, this role is perfectly suited for her. She is, hands down, the best thing in the movie. Matthew Modine appears midway and does his best Richard Crenna impression. His role doesn’t make any sense other than exposition, but always had a soft spot for double-M.
As for the story – it’s quite compelling for most of the flick. A little predictable? Sure, though there is an event halfway through the film that surprised me. Then the plot device that leads what started as a competent, revenge-driven plot into a disappointing, illogical mess – the twist. There’s a big one, and the clues are there – I just didn’t want to believe them. This movie didn’t need to have a twist, and if it had stuck to its gritty, violent tone, I think it would have been better than average. Instead, it 86’d its own narrative, all in the name of separating itself from Taken, and now hearkens more to M. Night Shyamalan theatrics. It wasn’t needed.
The movie also makes some very bizarre choices in its production. The beginning score…how do I describe it? A woman breathing heavily over a techno track. Weird. The score throughout reminded me more of a horror movie than an action thriller. There are sound cues that just sound off to me – I can’t really explain it, other than cues that hit that don’t match what I’m seeing on screen.
Of course, what would a movie of this sort be without action in the dark? You betcha it happens! Of course, it also happens at the biggest action pieces at the end of the movie. It was almost as if the director was contemplating his choices and saying, “Hmmm, how can I make the audience wonder if an amateur made this movie?” I even noticed the horrid CGI on a headshot at the end of the film. It looked like it was painted on with Windows Paint. If all this stuff were tightened up, the value of this film would be much higher.
What about the other characters besides Milla? Well, her daughter doesn’t do much, but the one major dialogue scene with her is horrible. Horrible. She is so awful to her mother; you don’t want her saved. I’m dead serious. Then, she’s being served in a bar, and she’s sixteen? No one’s carding her? Huh? I will say, though, the human traffickers are all insanely evil, and I hated them way more than the cardboard standees that subbed in for baddies in A Working Man. So there’s that. Oh, and D.B. Sweeney has a role as well. He’s an arrogant jackass, but at least he gets his comeuppance.
Overall, there was enough in this movie to keep me from giving it a horrible rating, but I was really disappointed with it. The makings of a solid revenge tale were all here, and Milla was on fire in the lead role. It just crumbled under an unnecessary plot twist and horrible production choices. I’m hoping she tackles the genre again, with a much more competent writer and director at the helm next time.