When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, wild card CIA Agent Mason 'Mace' Brown (Jessica Chastain) will need to join forces with rival badass German Agent Marie Schmidt (Diane Kruger), former MI6 ally and cutting edge computer specialist Khadijah Adiyeme (Lupita Nyong'o) and skilled Colombian psychologist Graciela Rivera (Penelope Cruz) on a lethal, breakneck mission to retrieve it, while also staying one-step ahead of a mysterious woman Lin Mi Sheng (Bingbing Fan) who is tracking their every move. As the action rockets around the globe from the cafes of Paris to the markets of Morocco to the opulent auction houses of Shanghai, the quartet of women will forge a tenuous loyalty that could protect the world--or get them killed.
Others to round out the cast are Sebastian Stan as Nick Fowler, Jason Flemyng as Elijah Clarke, Pablo Scola as Santiago, Edgar Ramirez as Luis Rojas, Leo Staar as Grady and John Douglas Thompson as Larry Marks.
This was surprisingly effectively directed by a virtual newbie to the director's chair, Simon Kinberg ("X-Men: Dark Phoenix" '19) plus TV. The fact that this filmmaker is a seasoned screenwriter and producer of films has to speak volumes of his ability behind the camera. Certainly, there is a certain formula in which to use to stage, pace and be able to extract those emotions from the cast with this particular genre, but considering that there are such seasoned actors in this: Chastain, Cruz, Kruger and Nyong'o, it's no surprise that his direction was anything lackluster. Since he is seemingly a natural, if you like his brand of directing, his "Glimpse" is in post production for a 2022 release. It was written better than I thought it would by veteran writers, Theresa Rebeck ("Harriet the Spy" '96, "Gossip" 2000, "Sunday on the Rocks" '04, "Catwoman" (story) '04, "Seducing Charlie Barker" '10, "Poor Behavior" '16, "Trouble" '17, "The Russian Cousin" (TV movie) '18) and Simon Kinberg ("The Legacy" (TV movie)'02, "xXx: State of the Union" '05, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" '05, "X-Men: The Last Stand" '06, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (TV movie) '07, "Jumper" '08, "Sherlock Holmes" '09, "This Means War" '12, "X-Men: Days of Future Past" '14, "Fantastic Four" '15, "X-Men: Apocalypse" '16, "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" '19) plus TV, based on a story by Theresa Rebeck. After seeing the trailer of this film the numerous times I did pre release, I certainly had great trepidation if this was going to be effective at all--the trailer really didn't sell it, but after viewing it, I left the theater with more of an appreciation for it. There were a number of twists and turns, which do occur in these types of films, but this was simply conveyed in a somewhat more of a surprising way. Was this film flawless? Absolutely not! There were some issues of continuity and of cohesiveness, however it definitely kept my attention for the two-hour running time.
If this genre is your thing- you'll certainly revel, and even though this wasn't Academy Award caliber in its writing, it surely will keep any audience's attention. Along with great stunts and photography, this film is certainly worthy of the price of admission.
Out of 4 Stars: 2.5 Rated: PG-13 123mins.
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