Also checked out Criminal, the new spy movie with an SF twist starring Kevin Costner. And Gary Oldman. And Ryan Reynolds. And Tommy Lee Jones. And Gal Gadot (you know, Wonder Woman). How, you may ask, can such a great cast NOT make a great movie? Well, some bad writing and basically super pedestrian, unexciting directing. It’s just kind of boring a lot of the time.
The premise is that super spy Reynolds is killed (he’s in the first 10 minutes of the movie) and his memories are implanted into the mind of psychotic sociopath with frontal lobe brain damage (Kevin Coster). Dropped out of a moving car as a baby, he is too violent for prison to do any good (you can’t punish a man who doesn’t think he has ever done anything wrong, the warden says). With the spies memories messing with his head, he escapes and starts to realize he has a certain set of skills (ahem) but also the memories of the Reynolds’ love for his wife (Gadot) and daughter. Costner’s character is unfamiliar with positive emotions.
It’s a nice idea and, when exploring this growing emotional state, the movie is pretty good (and, shew, Gal Gadot can act… wasn’t so sure after Batman v Superman). But when its being a spy movie, it’s kind of dull and pedestrian mess. The CIA is hunting down a random anarchist and… well… that guy is boring. There’s also a hacker trying to go good but for some reason he doesn’t think he can work with the CIA… and, I dunno, it’s all kind of sub-standard.
This isn’t a very good movie but it has moments and eventually dredges up some exciting or tense moments in its spy story. But it’s really only saved by the scenes between Costner and Gadot… and not all that saved, really. It’s a decent movie if maybe you catch it on HBO late at night in some near future.
Score: 69