Those Who Wish Me Dead
(B- or 2.5/4 stars)
'Those Who Wish Me Dead' is a decent action/thriller starring Angelina Jolie. Based on a 2014 novel, it's no great shakes, but provides some thrills, good craftsmanship & offers up a steady, watchable 100 minute diversion. Jolie plays Hannah Faber, a hot shot Montana smoke jumper {firefighters who parachute into danger zones}. Haunted by her failure to save 3 children in a recent deadly blaze, she is dispatched to a fire lookout tower out in the wilderness by her ex-boyfriend, Ethan (Jon Bernthal), the local deputy who is now married to pregnant Allison (Medina Senghore). Hannah feels ill-equipped to help anyone at the moment.
But that is exactly what she must do when she comes across frightened 12 yr. old Connor (Finn Little) whose father, Owen (Jake Weber), a forensic auditor for the Florida Attorney Gen., has just been killed by 2 ruthless assassins - Jack & Patrick (Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult) - for uncovering political malfeasance. These men need the boy to die as well, what with him surviving the attack on his dad & being a witness. Under orders from their company boss (Tyler Perry), the assassins set a wildfire to serve as a diversion & set out to find and kill the boy. All the while, Hannah does what she can with her instincts & skills to keep him safe, both from those sociopathic hit men AND the raging fire that is growing out of control & heading their way.
This movie gets the job done. There is a clear beginning, middle & end. Yes, the story stretches credulity as it goes. And it all winds up more predictable than one would hope for. But it's all executed with assurance by filmmaker, Taylor Sheridan. He keeps the pace moving, and I found no fault in the performances. Angelina Jolie is simply a badass in action flicks such as this; lending her thespian to the action genre films with aplomb every time. We like her Hannah, and hope that her mother bear/orphaned cub bond that she forms with Connor will payoff for them in the end. Speaking of Connor, Finn Little is great; inflecting a solid American accent, he is an Aussie. Aidan Gillen & Nick Hoult do well to make you loathe them; Gillen, in particular, invokes his loathsome Baelish role from Game of Thrones. And newcomer Medina Senghore well equips herself as a fellow badass to compliment Jolie.
As mentioned above, the film moves fleetingly with well-paced action. And I also admire Ben Richardson's gorgeous landscape cinematography. You know, considering Taylor Sheridan's pedigree {he created Hell or High Water, Sicario & TV's Yellowstone}, there IS an air of slight disappointment about the proceedings. This film isn't quite 'up to snuff'; compared to those works. The story, plotting, characters, dialogue, etc - while competent - don't attain the levels of greatness that those other works have. Still, the film is totally 'fine'. And it works as a revenge, survival & personal redemption flick.
But that is exactly what she must do when she comes across frightened 12 yr. old Connor (Finn Little) whose father, Owen (Jake Weber), a forensic auditor for the Florida Attorney Gen., has just been killed by 2 ruthless assassins - Jack & Patrick (Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult) - for uncovering political malfeasance. These men need the boy to die as well, what with him surviving the attack on his dad & being a witness. Under orders from their company boss (Tyler Perry), the assassins set a wildfire to serve as a diversion & set out to find and kill the boy. All the while, Hannah does what she can with her instincts & skills to keep him safe, both from those sociopathic hit men AND the raging fire that is growing out of control & heading their way.
This movie gets the job done. There is a clear beginning, middle & end. Yes, the story stretches credulity as it goes. And it all winds up more predictable than one would hope for. But it's all executed with assurance by filmmaker, Taylor Sheridan. He keeps the pace moving, and I found no fault in the performances. Angelina Jolie is simply a badass in action flicks such as this; lending her thespian to the action genre films with aplomb every time. We like her Hannah, and hope that her mother bear/orphaned cub bond that she forms with Connor will payoff for them in the end. Speaking of Connor, Finn Little is great; inflecting a solid American accent, he is an Aussie. Aidan Gillen & Nick Hoult do well to make you loathe them; Gillen, in particular, invokes his loathsome Baelish role from Game of Thrones. And newcomer Medina Senghore well equips herself as a fellow badass to compliment Jolie.
As mentioned above, the film moves fleetingly with well-paced action. And I also admire Ben Richardson's gorgeous landscape cinematography. You know, considering Taylor Sheridan's pedigree {he created Hell or High Water, Sicario & TV's Yellowstone}, there IS an air of slight disappointment about the proceedings. This film isn't quite 'up to snuff'; compared to those works. The story, plotting, characters, dialogue, etc - while competent - don't attain the levels of greatness that those other works have. Still, the film is totally 'fine'. And it works as a revenge, survival & personal redemption flick.