STARRING: Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitriona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Laurence Fishburne, Holt McCallany, Jon Bernthal and Joseph Millson. Screenplay by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli. Directed by James Hawes. Budget $60 million. Running time 123 minutes.
When Charlie Heller (Rami Malek), a meek, mild, uber-nerd CIA cryptologist and computer nerd, is told his wife has been killed by terrorists whilst on a business trip to London, England he does what any grieving widower would do. He black mails his corrupt CIA line manager, Danny Sapani (Caleb Horowitz) into sending him into the field to hunt down and kill the four men who killed his wife.
After a brief training session with CIA master assassin Laurence Fishburne's Robert 'Hendo' Henderson, Charlie lopes off to Europe to track down the men and kill them. Although, because Charlie is an absolute wimp and can't shoot or punch anybody he makes IEDs from everyday items and uses them to work his way up the food chain to the man ultimately responsible for pulling the trigger.
After a brief training session with CIA master assassin Laurence Fishburne's Robert 'Hendo' Henderson, Charlie lopes off to Europe to track down the men and kill them. Although, because Charlie is an absolute wimp and can't shoot or punch anybody he makes IEDs from everyday items and uses them to work his way up the food chain to the man ultimately responsible for pulling the trigger.
A very languidly paced thriller with not that much action. There's fun to be had watching a limp lettuce like Malek in an action role relying on his wits to exact a worthy revenge on the callous terrorist for hire who killed his wife rather than his fists and guns. The cast is strong too, Laurence Fishburne sadly underused is nevertheless good value, as is Holt McCallany revelling in his role as shady CIA operative who's been ordering off the book hits.
This is The Bourne Identity Lite, with parkour replaced with a gentle strolls, hi-oxtane car chases swapped out mobility scooter drag races, savage hand-to-hand MMA slapdowns, switched for a hand-flapping slap attacks, and John Wick style gun battles replaced with some IEDs and severe tutting. While it's on it's somewhat satisfying, but doesn't burn enough to truly shine. 2017's American Assassin did this far better and if you want a superior, non-violent spy drama I'd wholeheartedly recommend Black Bag over this.
That said, there's worst ways to spend 2 hours of your life.
This is The Bourne Identity Lite, with parkour replaced with a gentle strolls, hi-oxtane car chases swapped out mobility scooter drag races, savage hand-to-hand MMA slapdowns, switched for a hand-flapping slap attacks, and John Wick style gun battles replaced with some IEDs and severe tutting. While it's on it's somewhat satisfying, but doesn't burn enough to truly shine. 2017's American Assassin did this far better and if you want a superior, non-violent spy drama I'd wholeheartedly recommend Black Bag over this.
That said, there's worst ways to spend 2 hours of your life.
7/10
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