An entertaining one time watch
The Fix has a few impressive shoot-outs and gives Zachary Levi the chance to show his more serious side, but an overlong runtime, forgettable characters and an underused Liam Neeson stop it from making much of an impact. There’s a decent action thriller buried in here somewhere, making it worth a one-time watch but little more.
Plot: THE FIX follows a group of war-torn CIA operators mentored by “Larry” (Liam Neeson) and led by “Tucker” (Zachary Levi) who, after their mission in Afghanistan goes tragically wrong, enter the heart of Tehran to earn redemption by pulling off a daring rescue.
Review: I’m on vacation back home in Scotland this week, so apologies that I haven’t reviewed Resident Evil or Heart of the Beast yet; hopefully I’ll get to see them sometime in the next week.
I noticed that The Fix, starring Zachary Levi and Liam Neeson, is on Sky Premiere just now, so I sat down and watched it with the family last night.
The reviews haven’t exactly been great so far and, for once, I generally agree with the consensus. The Fix is an entertaining enough couple of hours, but it’s definitely too long, and if you’ve seen the trailer then a surprising amount of the movie has already been spoiled.
Liam Neeson only has about 10-15 minutes of screen time, so if you’re expecting another movie where Liam runs around kicking ass, then this ain’t it. He shows up sporadically throughout and I’d be surprised if he was on set for more than a day or two. Considering how prominently he’s featured in the marketing, some viewers may feel a little misled.
This is very much Zachary Levi’s movie, and it’s refreshing to see him in a more dramatic role as I mostly know him from the Shazam! movies and some other rather forgettable fare. It’s always funny watching an actor primarily known for comedy taking on a serious role, as they inevitably grow a beard and adopt a world-weary look, and that’s exactly what we get here.
In fairness, Levi is decent in the role and Tucker is ruthless and cold when he needs to be, which makes him relatively believable as a battle-scarred former operator. There’s a weariness to the character that works, especially as the story is essentially about a group of men who never really left the battlefield behind.
That’s probably the most interesting theme in The Fix. Tucker and his team are still haunted by what happened in Afghanistan, and their mission to Tehran isn’t just about the money. There’s an element of guilt and redemption to it, with these men seemingly looking for one last chance to make up for past failures. The movie also plays around with loyalty and betrayal, constantly asking who Tucker can actually trust, while suggesting that governments and institutions aren’t necessarily any more trustworthy than the criminals they’re fighting.
The problem is that The Fix never explores these ideas as deeply as it could. There are some interesting themes bubbling beneath the surface, but the movie is so busy piling on plot twists, betrayals and double-crosses that the characters never get the development they need.
That’s probably my biggest issue with the movie: the lack of memorable characters. Aside from Levi’s Tucker, nobody else really makes much of an impact, with the possible exception of Wes Chatham. Considering this is supposed to be a team of men who have been through Hell together, I never really felt much camaraderie between them. There isn’t much memorable dialogue either, and the movie takes itself very seriously, so a little more personality or humour between the characters would have gone a long way.
In terms of action, we get several impressive shoot-outs and the film certainly earns its R rating with plenty of bloody violence and headshots. There are a few moments of genuine tension too, especially once the mission starts going sideways, but the action is occasionally let down by some noticeable CG explosions. That’s one of my pet peeves, especially in a movie that looks like it should have a sizeable budget.
At 2 hours and 21 minutes, The Fix is also far too long. There’s a decent 100-minute action thriller buried in here somewhere, and trimming a few scenes would have helped the pacing considerably. The story has enough double-crosses and moving pieces to keep things relatively interesting, but by the final act I was definitely ready for it to wrap up.
Overall, The Fix is the kind of movie you’ll watch once and probably never really think about again. Liam Neeson is disappointingly underused, but the film is elevated by a few decent shoot-outs, some brutal violence and occasional moments of tension. It’s also nice to see Zachary Levi trying his hand at a more serious action role, and I’d happily watch him do something like this again with a stronger script and more memorable characters. Worth a one-time watch.