TPO – The action and spy movie “Heart of Stone” received many bad criticisms because of its old script. Even star Gal Gadot couldn’t save the movie.
Heart of Stone is the latest action project invested in by Netflix, after the films Extraction 2 and The Mother. The company wants to continue to prove that audiences can still enjoy blockbusters at home without going to theaters.
With the participation of star Gal Gadot and a budget of more than 130 million USD, the work is expected to create a big bang when released. Unfortunately, the film received many criticisms for its bad script and old content.
The familiar idea of a female spy
In the movie, Gal Gadot plays the main role of Rachel Stone. She is a member of Charter – an intelligence organization established with the mission of preserving world peace.
This place gathers the best individuals, operating independently from global intelligence networks. They also own an AI (artificial intelligence) called Heart that can predict the future, control computer systems, and world information portals easily.
However, a hacker is plotting to steal Heart for his own purposes. Faced with that situation, Stone must use all his strength to find a way to stop this dangerous plan.
The film’s story is simple, following the familiar motifs of many works in the same line. The idea is not new either. The filmmakers wanted to build a spy story with a female main character. Previously, Hollywood had many similar movies such as Salt (2010), Atomic Blonde (2017), Red Sparrow (2018)…
The script has many details reminiscent of Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible series, from espionage elements, action sequences to the character using high-tech gadgets to complete the mission.
The writing team does not have much creativity to make Rachel Stone’s story more attractive. Even the AI element is similar to the story in Mission Impossible: Karma part 1, which just came out in theaters not long ago.
Incorporating too many social issues and the influence of AI makes the film rambling and lacking emphasis. The female lead’s fate and life are also not clearly explored, making it difficult for viewers to sympathize with the character.
Netflix’s old formula
Basically, the work still follows the general formula of many Netflix blockbusters such as Red Notice, The Gray Man, Extraction 2… Producers focus too much on action and special effects without investing in content. script.
Leading the project is British director Tom Harper – famous for Wild Rose (2018), The Aeronauts (2019), Peaky Blinders series. However, the filmmaker has almost no experience making blockbusters with many action scenes taking place in rapid succession.
Therefore, some segments in the film do not create a realistic feeling. The explosion and chase scenes are done quite formulaically. The way the director handled the situation was simple, so the work lacked an element of surprise.
The filmmaker continuously takes viewers through many famous places in the world such as London, Lisbon, Senegal, Iceland… Each scene appears but does not have much impact on the story, just like beautiful paintings as a background.
Throughout the journey, the main character must face many dangerous challenges. But the female spies easily overcome all obstacles, making the story lack appeal because it is easy to predict.
In addition, the 122-minute duration makes the work lengthy. Many segments can be completely cut out without affecting the film’s content.
Gal Gadot couldn’t save the movie either
Taking on the main role of Stone, Gal Gadot has not really shined despite having a lot of acting space. The star herself has experience in acting in many action movies such as Wonder Woman (2017), Justice League (2017), Red Notice (2021)… Therefore, she did not encounter many difficulties with running, jumping and fighting scenes.
The biggest minus point is that Gal Gadot has not been able to build a unique character for the character. Her role still lacks personality, not much different from her appearance in Red Notice 2 years ago. The star has not shown any improvement in her acting ability but is just repeating herself.
Besides Gal Gadot, the supporting cast in the movie is also lackluster. Jamie Dornan – star of the Fifty Shades of Gray series – can barely escape his role. He missed the opportunity to conquer the audience when appearing next to a top star like Gal Gadot.
When released, Heart of Stone was immediately criticized, rated “Rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes with 29% votes from critics and 56% from the audience. IMDb score is also low, only 5.7/10 points. Most consider this to be a forgettable film in Gal Gadot’s career.
Overall, Heart of Stone’s failure is understandable. In the context of Hollywood producing a series of action movies every year, the film’s appearance is somewhat less impressive.
Star actors or a large production budget cannot save a bad script.
