This Movie Unlocked Every Single Predictable Action Movie Trope
Michael Apted’s Unlocked definitely has its moments of exciting entertainment, but the movie falls short of entertaining due to its inherently predictable nature. It desperately tries to tell a compelling story of a former CIA agent by the name of Alice Racine (Noomi Rapace) who gets brought in to interview a courier who’s sent to deliver a message about a biological attack that’s going to take place. However, the CIA and MI5 have been compromised and Racine has been set-up by people who work for Eric Lasch (Michael Douglas), Alice’s mentor, who stages his own death. Seeking the truth, she gets the help of a petty thief (Orlando Bloom), or so she thinks.
When Eric Lasch “died”, I knew right then and there that it was a faked death. There’s no way in hell that Michael Douglas would accept a 5-minute role, except from Marvel Studios. When Racine broke in to his apartment and she started telling him what happened, I knew that Douglas could not be trusted. Admirably, Michael Douglas tries to play the villain in a compelling fashion, but his lines are too predictable and clichéd for me to actually be compelled into his role. He wants to spread a virus for “Greed” and “Death”. There’s the famous “Why are you doing this?” spiel that takes way too long and a Mission: Impossible-esque climax that tries to be exciting, but you know that Racine will stop the countdown in time because that’s how Mission: Impossible works! I also knew that Orlando Bloom was working for Lasch because, once again, there’s no way in hell that Orlando Bloom’s character was there to steal a TV at a “convenient time” and knows how to fight. Oh, you’re a marine? Pffff! His death, and Michael Douglas’ are unintentionally hilarious as one falls of a ledge “Dick Jones” style, and one gets bit by an enraged Rottweiler after he killed the other Rottweiler. Yes, Apted isn’t afraid of unleashing every single action movie trope that you know & love (or not), and, in doing so, he falters the movie down.
Thank God the performances are great. I absolutely adored Noomi Rapace’s badass turn as Alice Racine, the action sequences involving her are fantastic (except the last one). The film’s most exciting and kinetic sequence is when agent Emily Knowles (Toni Collette) learns that the MI5 has been compromised from the inside during an operation. It’s a beautiful sequence, because it’s wonderfully shot and tightly choreographed. The gunplay is John Woo Face-Off quality. I also loved John Malkovich as Bob Hunter, who brings some hilarious comedy to the movie. It’s the only real compelling character because it seems that he is the only one complaining about what’s going on in the movie at the same time that the audience is dissecting the crap out of it. Yes, many of the action sequences are competently shot and well choreographed, alongside great performances from a star-studded cast, but it isn’t enough. Unlocked gets trapped in the clichéd bubble, which makes it falter very, very, very hard. If you’re curious, see it.
✯✯
