I find Jason Statham movies are usually entertaining, but rarely great. This one wasn't quite what I expected, but it still sat in that range.Of course this isn't exactly the typical Jason Statham movie. With an impressive cast and Guy Ritchie in the director's chair, this film is a little smarter and more stylish than Statham's typical action fare. I also found it more perplexing.
I can't find the words to describe what I felt watching this film, but there's something a little off about it. My friends also had a complaint that they struggled to articulate. The best I can come up with is: it has a pacing issue.
There is a LOT of exposition delivered early on, and Guy Ritchie tries to keep the audience entertained while delivering it, energetically cutting between characters and locations, action and exposition. I think perhaps this just goes on for too long though, as the movie started to feel almost monotonous.
To be clear it wasn't boring, I was enjoying myself for most of the runtime. But most movies have peaks and valleys; a fast-paced scene followed by a slow one, a loud scene followed by a quiet one. Tension builds up, pays off, then winds down. This movie felt to me like it was at about the same level almost the entire time. There wasn't enough difference between the highs and the lows I guess is what I'm saying.
Well, that's just my impression, my attempt to understand why I felt the movie was lacking. Whatever the issue, it wasn't a dealbreaker. The film is entertaining, with a balance of action and comedy. It's all a little toungue-in-cheek, a little over-the-top, with a Guy Ritchie flavour. The spy-thriller story wasn't that interesting to me, centered around an extremely overused movie macguffin, but it lead to some fun situations and interactions. The action is nothing special but had a pleasing touch of creativity and always a bit of humor woven in.
Jason Statham is playing the mildly comedic version of his usual tough-guy persona, which I enjoyed well enough. He doesn't get too much of a chance to show off his martial-arts skills, but he does get some varied action scenes and as usual he's great in them. It was nice to see Cary Elwes, he was entertaining but I think the script was a little too preoccupied with using him to deliver exposition; I would have liked it if he was given more to do than just play the "Bosley" role.
Aubrey Plaza seemed to be enjoying herself, playing a comedic foil to the more serious men in the team. I liked the way Bugzy Malone played his character with quiet confidence; he was the strong silent type, and I appreciated it. I think this is my favourite role that I've seen Hugh Grant play in years. It's very different from the "adorably awkward" persona from his old romcoms, and much closer to the sleazeball he played in The Gentlemen. I found him much more entertaining in this one; surprisingly he might actually have been my favourite part of the movie.
I did feel Josh Hartnett wasn't being given the chance to do as much with his role as could be done. There's been entire movies centered around the kind of role he played, Nicholas Cage's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent comes to mind. And yet here he was just a supporting character, a comedic sidekick. It was another element of the film that felt a bit strange, but it was part of the fun, adding to the cast of colourful characters bouncing off each other.
Overall I'm going to give it a 7/10. It's just a bit of easy lightheated fun.
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