OUT OF DEATH (2021)
Tagline: Justice Is A Moving Target
(Crime, Thriller, Bruce Willis Mailing It In) [R]
In this one, a woman named Shannon is just minding her own business trying to get her thoughts together in a small town rural area when she witnesses a deputy involved in some shady events. It doesn’t take long before she realizes she is being hunted down and not just for questioning. Meanwhile retired cop Jack Harris stumbles upon her about to be killed. Soon the Sheriff is also after both of them in an attempt to wipe out anyone that can trace his department back to its sinister dealings.
First off this movie isn’t nearly as bad as some of the reviews out there. The production I would say falls into the “just okay” category with nearly every shot being done during daylight. In fact, Bruce Willis (who plays Jack Harris and is most famous for THE FIFTH ELEMENT) was only on set for a day. That is likely why his character feels so “mailed in”. This has the idea that there are entire scenes that could have been pretty deep and meaningful but came across as just him saying “can we get this over with, I’ve got a 7am T-time tomorrow morning”. In movies like DIE HARD and THE FIFTH ELEMENT, you get the sense that his character really cares about whether the characters he is trying to save survive. In this movie, it kind of feels like him just having to show any emotion at all was just too much to ask.
Regarding the rest of the acting Jaime King (best known for SIN CITY) is average as Shannon. At least she garners some emotion and it feels like she is actually going through some of the events in the movie. Lala Kent stands out as one of the cops and is quite good in this. In some bizarre twist of fate (or maybe some contractual demands), she has actually been in 4 movies with Bruce Willis in the span of 2 years. None of them are considered amazing, but I kind of doubt it’s her fault. Some of this has to be on the director. I mean, you have Bruce Willis in your movie and you can’t get him to show any emotion outside of some canned “you missed two sugars in my coffee” anger?
The script in this one is rough. While there are some thoughtful moments and a bit of chemistry between Shannon and Jack, there isn’t much to get excited about here. The plot is fairly predictable and the overuse of “gd” as profanity is always a great indicator the writer needs to expand their horizons. In fact, the overuse of profanity, in general, tells the audience you can’t really use expressive words when you write and have a lack of understanding in regards to normal speech patterns. I will say the villains are actually believable because you can understand the perils of power + ego + lack of morals, in an area where no one can stop you, so that was a plus.
I did like bits of the score and the soundtrack for this movie, but the cool stuff was too short and as a result, the overall feel is just pretty corny.
This type of movie isn’t really in my normal wheelhouse, but I actually really like Bruce Willis in spite of the multiple dreams I’ve had where he is trying to kill me. So on that front, this is a bit of a disappointment and I really hope we get another great movie out of Bruce and everyone he is working with at some point. This wasn’t it.
Best I can do on this one is a 3 out of 7. Not a movie I would want to watch again on purpose.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF SSS ENTERTAINMENT AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
Comments
Post a Comment