Carnahan’s script, co-written with Leon Chills doesn’t have anything new to show and tell. The narrative beats are as expected
Still from Shadow Force
Film: Shadow Force
Cast: Kerry Washington, Omar Sy, Mark Strong, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Method Man, Ed Quinn, Shaina West, Natalia Reyes
Director: Joe Carnahan
Rating: 2.5
Runtime: 104 min.
Shadow Force is basically a generic B movie, the latest super spy saga from co-writer/director Joe Carnahan. This bruiser actioner is neither fresh nor pacy in it efforts to transform itself from a mere potential streamer to a big ticket theatre outing.
It’s highly predictable, plays like every other actioner in the marketplace, and has very few action set pieces that can excite or give you an adrenaline rush. a few of the helmer’s previous efforts.
Joe Carnahan has helmed some fun actioners like ‘Smokin’ Aces’ and ‘The A-Team’ and has writing credits for the ‘Death Wish’ remake and ‘Bad Boys For Life’ but that experience doesn’t show fruit here. In ‘Shadow Force’ he sticks to the genre play book within the covert operations/spy action romance setup and goes rote for violent thrills. There’s some humour and chemistry at play here but it’s not the kind you want to spend your hard earned money on.
The movie starts off in exciting fashion. Isaac Sarr (Omar Sy),a one-time bad guy who thought he was doing good, is a loving father to 5-year-old son Ky (Jahleel Kamara) and living a quiet existence. But once he steps out to withdraw some money from a bank, he finds himself momentarily taken hostage as part of a robbery. In the first major action set-piece we then see him single-handedly taking them all out.
We then get to know that Kyrah( Kerry Washington) and Isaac are estranged, once were part of a multinational special forces group called Shadow Force, broke the rules by falling in love, and were underground for long. But with a large bounty on their heads, and the vengeful Shadow Force hot on their trail, they have to join forces to protect their family in an all out war.
Carnahan’s script, co-written with Leon Chills doesn’t have anything new to show and tell. The narrative beats are as expected. The couple are shown as working together to protect their son Ky, while playfully flirting with each other.
The stray humour and regular action are not enough to raise this actioner out of the ordinary.Cliff Smith and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as “Auntie” and “Unc”, the couple’s unofficial bodyguards seem to be having a ball but its not all pervasive.
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