Spot on review Cas. I'm all for an utterly generic, formulaic romp these days but this was fairly dismal and I found myself saying: "Why do i do this everytime?!" It seems to be happening more frequently. Maybe that's why i gravitate more toward long form story telling on TV rather than film at the moment.
I'll have to give Yellowstone a goI definitely think that's why Yellowstone worked because the long-form allowed even the most thinly-painted 'types' to be gradually transformed into more fully formed characters.
Poor Jolie gave it her all, but I could have easily seen a slightly younger (but still Taken-mode) Neeson playing this part, which, IMO, is a missed opportunity from such a cast and such an acclaimed writer.
This felt like Jolie clearly had a dog in the race; what with her model heavy makeup, shots of her bottom and near parading a bra for the audience. That, along with her using the line I'm lean now and not skinny, with a smirk, made me wonder if she's addressing both social / media commentary here but ironically serving an industry that once sought after her pretty much for looks.
The story is bobbins though, with no end of trope-ridden nonsense. I really hate it when brutally efficient skilled tactical killers are posed and then turn to ignorant putty in short form, literally running themselves into mistakes and close up scenarios to be taken down. So many characters go from being gun professionals, in which the weapon affords distance, to suddenly needing to be a foot away - Leon would not be pleased.
If she looked at Pitt the way she looks at the kid in contemplating having him, I'm amazed he lasted as long as he did.
A waste in cast, director and audience time overall.
It's such a pitfall used over and over.I think it could have been easily fixed too,by having more than two in the killing team. Then at least the lead brothers don't have to be painted as both brutally efficient and dangerously inept as and when the plot requires it. There are so many classics where the lead villain berates his men for making a mistake - Oldman did it in Leon, for example - but you can't have them be one and the same person as it just undermines the threat.
I honestly had more time for Tyler Perry than Gillen or Hoult, which is saying something.
It's such a pitfall used over and over.
They even throw that out there in need for more characters (Tyler Perry must've been so disappointed in reading to find he's just the one) but then create a literal situation to give them less time and presence.
Hoult and Gillen did make me laugh when they said to one another, I got nothin'. Yup. Just smile and wave boys. Smile and wave,..at your careers...
They obviously didn't fill in the correct critical smiley.For some reason I seem to remember the airport scene also showed more people getting into more vehicles? I guess they were for different ops.
Nope, they never doWhat did the boy and his father know that people wanted them dead so bad, did I miss it I know they had evidence of something but don’t think they actually said what it was