It might be a little unfair to just tag this as a ‘Female John Wick’ – as this high-octane flick deserves more kudos than that.
Yet another film where its release date got shifted by the pandemic – it was shown at Showcase Cinema De Lux in Peterborough (for a token week’s run) and on Sky Cinema (who took some of the financial burden) – this Karen Gillan-led (Guardians of the Galaxy and Jumanji) bloody bullet-fest is solidly-entertaining fare from start to finish, even though its production does seem to borrow heavily from similar genre entries.
But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as Gillan’s corporate assassin Sam – following in the footsteps of her AWOL Mum Scarlet (Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey), who disappeared in her teenage years – has now become ‘the hunted’ after inadvertently murdering the son of Ralph Ineson’s Russian gangster while on another killing-spree at the behest of her adoptive father Nathan (Oscar-nominee Paul Giamatti), who is the seedy PR-guru for the mysterious Firm.
And when Sam saves youngster Emily (My Spy’s Chloe Coleman) in transit to escape her pursuers, she soon realises she’s not alone as her Mum, and her kick-ass pals – Anna May (Oscar-nominee Angela Bassett), Madeleine (Sin City’s Carla Gugino) and Florence (Shang-Chi’s Michelle Yeoh) – and protectors of the weapon-housing Library (think John Wick’s Continental Hotel as a comparison) come to her aid.
‘Girl Power’ then gleefully ensues.
And with nice humour spots, the usual slo-mo direction and all the modern ‘bells and whistles’ this makes for a gratifying jaunt – with Gillan proving this has leading actress star power in the process.
And when you mix all the ingredients together – this makes for one satisfying gun-toting ‘shake.
ESP Rating: 3.5/5
Gavin Miller
Platform: Sky Cinema
Cast: Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Angela Bassett, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh, Chloe Coleman, Ralph Ineson, Michael Smiley, Ed Birch, Ivan Kaye, Jack Bandeira, David Burnell & Paul Giamatti
Running Time: 1 Hr 54 Mins
Director: Navot Papushado