This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
You've come a long way, baby!
Plot Overview
CIA analyst
Abigail "Abby" Trent (Michelle Monaghan) is living a feminist fantasy.
She travels worldwide interrogating suspects in cultures
having little respect for women. She does righteous work where
“other people—[men]—are better suited to the job.”
Furthermore, she has an accommodating husband. Ryan is a
world-class surgeon but first of all a caring father. He doesn't mind
tagging along to her postings from place to place, just so he gets
to help people wherever they are. He's also a low level CIA courier. Their little
daughter “helps the nurses with their rounds at the children's
ward.” They dine in fine restaurants. He's a keeper.
After a terrorist bomb kills her husband
and daughter (along with others) in a hospital in Istanbul, she wheedles
her way to an assignment in a secure facility in the Jordanian desert,
where servers are housed, prisoners are incarcerated, and five
English-speaking nations hold joint intelligence conferences.
It's been but a year after the bombing when her co-workers throw her
a surprise birthday party, which she takes in stride, good sport
that she is. Her birthday/bomb anniversary present is the suspect
Hatchet (Jason Clarke) delivered on a platter. Predictably, he breaks
out of his cell and all hell breaks loose.
Ideology
Abby is prepared to take on whoever and whatever organization is responsible for her personal loss, and she means business. Yet she is a by-the-book girl through and through, unwilling to ignore protocol. When one of her female friends in the agency turns out to be compromised, she won't give her a break but takes after her tooth and nail, though to be sure she does apologize for maybe having to kill her. As hairy as that confrontation is, there could be worse. (Prov. 17:12) “Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.” Raymond Miller (Jai Courtney) is ex-military contracted to the CIA, tasked with guarding the prisoners. He has a hard-on for payback and is not beyond torturing and killing them. The way he (mis)treats his charges they'd be better off with Abby.
Chaplain Harris (Logan Huffman) takes on a
pool match with Uri Wasserman (Phoenix Raei) their MOSSAD observer,
“New Testament against Old Testament.” Uri says he'll crucify
him and wagers $50 to make it interesting. When the alarm is sounded, the
troops spring into action with loaded weapons and the chaplain carrying his
cue like he's a Jesus figure with his cross. When the action intensifies,
the chaplain prays up a storm, and we can hardly blame him. He's soon
taken hostage and will ultimately give his life for the other, and
a bad guy at that. But that's what Jesus did, so it's consistent.
Production Values
“” (2022) was directed by Sophia Banks. Its screenplay was written by Jinder Ho and John Collee. It stars Jason Clarke, Michelle Monaghan and Jai Courtney. Monaghan gave a faultless performance as the lead, but not good enough to make her famous. The film was mostly action with character roles easy to fill.
MPAA rated it R for strong/bloody violence and language throughout. It contained groups hostile to each other but no racial epithets were used. Muslim emblems were not seen as they are a people easily offended. There was one scene of a white hand holding a brown hand but this was in preparation for the former breaking the latter's fingers, not a “Kumbaya” moment. The action was cookie cutter, what we've all seen before, but there were two hand-to-hand fights notable in that the opponents were equally matched. One was a cat fight in which the similar size opponents were both trained at Quantico, and the other Uri against the main terrorist. It was filmed on location in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Runtime is 1½ hours.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
I'll pass on commenting on the underlying feminist assumptions other than to categorize it under Fantasy. This one was Christian-friendly in one of its subplots, which is more than can be said for a lot of action films. If action is your thing and you're not put off by an unlikely action figure, this one will do.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Well done action flick. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Good for Feminist Groups. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.
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