Alia Bhatt makes her Hollywood debut with stars like Gal Gadit and Jamie Dornan in Netflix바카라™s latest action thriller 바카라˜Heart Of Stone바카라™. Is the film worth your time? Or can you simply skip it? Read the full movie review to find out.
Director: Tom Harper
Cast: Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, Alia Bhatt, Sophie Okonedo, Jing Lusi, Paul Ready, Jon Kortajarena, Archie Madekwe, Matthias Schweighöfer, BD Wong, Glenn Close, Mark Ivanir
Available On: Netflix
Duration: 2 Hours 3 Minutes
An intelligence operative (Gal Gadot) for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency, races to stop a rogue MI6 agent (Jamie Dornan) and hacker (Alia Bhatt) from stealing its most valuable and dangerous weapon. Will the operative be able to save this shadow agency? Will the shadow agency get exposed to the world in the pursuit? Will the hacker be able to overpower the operative? Will the rogue agent finally realise his mistakes? Or will there be eventual doom for all humankind? Well, for all that you바카라™ll have to watch 바카라˜Heart Of Stone바카라™.
Gal Gadot carries the entire film on her shoulders. She is the one who바카라™s there in pretty much every frame of the movie. There is a way in which she does action onscreen which is loved by audiences so much, and she proves it once again here with 바카라˜Heart Of Stone바카라™. The hi-flying action stunts which she has managed to pull off make her look like a female Ethan Hunt from the 바카라˜Mission Impossible바카라™ series. However, Tom Cruise바카라™s 바카라˜Mission Impossible바카라™ films always have him portray numerous emotions onscreen, which is sadly missing here in Gal Gadot바카라™s character. There isn바카라™t anything more to the character than action, and Gal Gadot manages to master that part pretty well. So, no complaints!
Alia Bhatt is surprisingly decent. Even though her character is constantly playing second fiddle to Jamie Dornan, she somehow comes out better than him in the film. However, from an acting point of view, there isn바카라™t a lot that바카라™s new for Alia. The flinching and changing coming-of-age sort of emotions is something that she has pulled off in the past with aplomb in films like 바카라˜Raazi바카라™. Even though the characters are poles apart, the emotional character arc of both have a similarity, and that바카라™s why Alia so nicely fits into this character. Considering now tables have turned for the character, a lot more would be expected from her in the sequels of the film.
Jamie Dornan tries to flaunt his sinister side with aplomb but he isn바카라™t able to get that villainous streak out. Something that he did so brilliantly in 바카라˜The Fall바카라™. His screen time is also less in comparison to what a negative lead should have had.
Despite having some great names in the supporting cast, there is nothing that stands out. Names like Sophie Okonedo, Matthias Schweighöfer, BD Wong, Glenn Close, Mark Ivanir and many others have been absolutely wasted.
Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder바카라™s writing is what kills the grip of the film. Action thrillers like this strive on giving the viewers multiple twists and turns that can force them to jump out of their seats. Sadly, barring a single twist, there isn바카라™t any more twists and turns in the plot. To add to that, there are too many loose ends. For example (Spoilers Ahead), Gal Gadot is working as a double agent as she works for MI6 as well as she works for a shadow agency. Once her identity is exposed as the shadow agency바카라™s agent, there is no mention thenceforth about her career in the MI6. The MI6 isn바카라™t spoken of at all throughout the rest of the movie, which feels quite demeaning for such an elite intelligence agency.
Tom Harper바카라™s direction is the saving grace of this film. The way he manages to use visual effects to perfection is brilliant. Whether they바카라™re the hi-flying action sequences or aerial shots of jumping out of a plane or the entire parachute scene 바카라“ everything was very well sewn together to the plot. He brings together some of the most difficult action sequences and keeps the believability intact. Even though you know that this is humanly not possible, yet, you바카라™re so drawn into the action sequences that you바카라™re relishing every moment.
George Steel바카라™s cinematography is a high point of the film. In such action thrillers there바카라™s hardly much story and more action sequences put together. Steel has ensured that these action sequences are so well shot that you바카라™re not left missing a defining background story. The action is so well executed that you바카라™re left wondering which was shot in real and which was done with visual effects.
Mark Eckersley바카라™s editing is decent. With so many action sequences laden back-to-back it바카라™s very difficult to not have any jump cuts and make it looks seamless. Eckersley has managed to get that perfectly. However, the run time has gone beyond 2 hours, which isn바카라™t pretty much the norm in today바카라™s time, especially for a slick actioner like 바카라˜Heart Of Stone바카라™.
Every spy film in this genre has a defining music or a background theme which becomes popular and becomes the talking point for years together. 바카라˜James Bond바카라™ has it. 바카라˜Mission Impossible바카라™ has it. Even the recent 바카라˜Jack Ryan바카라™, 바카라˜The Gray Man바카라™ and 바카라˜Citadel바카라™ had it. Sadly, there바카라™s nothing like that in 바카라˜Heart Of Stone바카라™. Steven Price바카라™s music isn바카라™t something that makes you want to hold onto the music for future films in the franchise.
Yes
바카라˜Heart Of Stone바카라™ attempts to be the next 바카라˜Mission Impossible바카라™. It바카라™s not that it falls flat on its face, but it doesn바카라™t manage to get to that level as well. What바카라™s sad is that this seems to be the start of a franchise but with a lot of loose ends. The makers are indeed planning to tie those up in the sequels, but that kills a bit of the fun of watching this film. To add to that, not putting more twists and turns was a massive mistake. Thankfully the thrill is still intact and the performances are overall good. That saves the film from being a massive dud. If you바카라™re a fan of slick actioners, this is an Average Watch, but sadly this is no 바카라˜Mission Impossible바카라™. I am going with 2.5 stars.