I'm not one to pass up a film starring the fascinating and badass actress, Gal Gadot. I'd seen the trailer of Heart Of Stone (2023) a few days before the film's release and was super excited to watch it. I should have seen this movie before now but I almost fell for the negative reviews I read immediately after the release. Note to self: Never read a review before watching a movie because of the naysayers!
This American spy thriller begins with the introduction of four MI6 operatives crashing a party in the Alps to extract a notorious arms dealer who surfaces out of hiding. Rachel Stone (played by Gal Gadot) is the tech agent of this team. She saves the day when the mission goes sideways, revealing herself as a double agent who is undercover for a secret organisation called The Charter.
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Rachel's operations and moves are guided by an artificial intelligence called The Heart resulting in success. As her team pursues the arms dealer, a call comes through their comms from a hacker, Keya (played by Alia Bhatt) who reveals she's a stranger with full knowledge of their mission.
Rachel is disturbed. When she reports to The Charter headquarters, her boss Nomad (played by Sophie Okonedo) cautions her not to blow her cover with MI6. While on a mission to find Keya in Lisbon, Rachel blows her cover to save her team's lives only to discover she's not the only double agent in her team. Who is this other double agent and what is he after?
Review
This film's plot is good, no doubt but unnervingly familiar. A secret group called The Charter have access to "The Heart", a supercomputer, located in the sky (like a spaceship) that gives access to everything and everyone. A member of an MI6 team working with a hacker tries to steal "The Heart". This plot reminds me of a similar 'all-powerful' tech called 'God's Eye' in one of the Fast & Furious films. Boring? I think this plot can be better if the filmmakers improve on this technology or give it a different usage rather than make it exactly like 'God's Eye'. Viewers don't very much appreciate a plot that's exactly like another hence the few negative reviews.
The storytelling and character development are great. The first ten minutes into the film give an intriguing plot twist with thrilling action that sets the audience's mood. I was on the edge of my seat at this point. Then the film starts to lose momentum and go downhill when the MI6 team's behaviour and MO are unlike that of spies. They are loose and careless, making me question the screenwriting and the directing.
Heart Of Stone is a fascinating spy thriller with a great cast that grips viewers from the first scene but the effort put into the screenplay and directing wasn't sufficient. If only the opening momentum was maintained to the end. Instead, viewers are fed with a storyline and themes common with almost every spy movie like the Mission Impossible franchise.
The cast's performance is excellent. Gal Gadot is impressive in her role as a double agent and when her cover is blown, she risks everything to save the world. Her fight scenes and stunts are fantastic and the editing makes it fun to watch. She gives the Wonder Woman vibe in all her action thrillers and reminds me of the iconic Milla Jovovich in the Resident Evil films.
However, I wasn't too impressed with Jamie Dornan's acting. Again, I blame the screenplay for this. He starts well, intriguing and immediately falls into the all-too-common villain who wants to take over the world and kill everybody. He's a great actor with a natural charm who deserves better.
I understand this film is Alia Bhatt's Hollywood debut and she's great but her role was irritating with her childish expressions. I would love to see her in more English roles as a mature person.
The cinematography and editing are well done but could be better. The locations used are lovely. I enjoyed the parachute and car chasing scenes.
Overall, Heart Of Stone is a fine spy thriller worth watching just once, at least to see your favourite actor and actress in action. I'll give it 3 stars out of 5.
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Other images are screenshots from the movie
Posted using CineTV