I'm not sure why this one is being slammed so much. I thought it was silly, fun entertainment. Totally harmless fluff but what's wrong with that? Hailee Steinfeld leads a great cast, none of whom disappoint. Nice to see Sophie Turner in a role light years away from Game of Thrones. I thought Jessica Alba and Sam Jackson were both good. Alba seems to be having the time of her life. Rachael Harris and Rob Huebel are both hilarious. Jason Ian Drucker is a little scene stealer. He's great every time he's on screen. I loved his part in the final battle. It's somewhat reminiscent of the Spy Kids movies but less annoying and not as much cartoonery. Yes it's by-the-numbers in most respects but it's just trying to entertain, not reinvent cinema as we know it. Most of the complaints I see are from people saying the movie "could have been more/better." Well you just described 99% of movies. There's always room for improvement. Why don't we just judge it by what it is not what we wish it was? I think it's a fun lightweight teenage action comedy that has appeal for young and old alike. And that's enough for me.
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I decided to watch this movie because Samuel L. Jackson was in it. I found it on Netflix and had not even heard about it prior to stumbling upon it. I read the synopsis, but wasn't overly reeled in by it, as it had that teenage-generic-action-comedy vibe to it.
I will say that "Barely Legal" actually turned out to be far better than I had initially hoped or thought it would be, given the synopsis for the movie. And it turned out to be rather entertaining. Sure, it had those sappy moments that are seen in these particular movies, but it worked out well enough.
The storyline, despite being so generic and predictable that it was oozing off of it, actually still turned out to be entertaining for what it was. This doesn't challenge the viewer intellectually, so just unwind, lean back and enjoy the ride.
They had some good performers in the movie, and it was nice to see Jessica Alba in the role that she had. And of course Samuel L. Jackson was good, just a shame that he hadn't a more prominent role to play. Hailee Steinfeld actually turned out to be a rather good choice for the lead, as she definitely stood her ground and performed well.
All in all, you know what you are getting yourself into here with a movie such as this, and the movie does play on every available trick that has been seen before in similar movies. But it still worked out quite well. -
subxerogravity5 June 2015Not all movies can be epic.
I went into the theater not expecting much, even though such actors as Sam L. Jackson and Jessica Alba names appeared on the movie poster. The movie has a really cool concept:
Sam L Jackson trains an army of underage girls to be government assassins, but his most skilled agent, number 83 seeks to regain her childhood by becoming a normal teenager after her last mission gave her the opportunity to fake her own death.
It's been a while since I've seen Jessica Alba in a flick so it's cool to see her in this as the villain, though the movie centers more around Number 83, played by Hailee Steinfeild and how a teenager who does not know how to be a teenager learns how to be one. This plot turned the big named stars like Jackson and Alba's role in the movie into nothing but overblown cameos. You can actually tell from the way it's filmed that both of them were just collecting a pay check.
Barely Lethal had the makings of a great teen comedy. It had an interesting concept that the filmmakers were able to show off in the movie. It was put together nicely with action an comedy that made for a fun flick, but it won't go down in history with the John Hughes flicks from the 80s or American Pie franchise.
But I still found it worthy to take a look at. -
danieljbarton6 May 2015After a viewing at 1am I am pretty satisfied with the overall film, I didn't go in to this expecting a life altering message or acting that would move me, for what it is the film done the job; light, airy, a predictable yet enjoyable watch.
The main draw to this film was the cast, I enjoyed Hailee Steinfeld in Enders Game and thought the somewhat masculine performance would carry well, her commitment was visible and seemed genuine (as much as could be) in the role of a deadly teenage girl. Sophie Turner being another name that caught my eye sadly didn't live up, I feel disappointed with her acting, getting the underlining sense it was half arsed-although the American accent may have been a factor in throwing off her game as well as living up to the stereotypical 'agent' robotic personality. The acting was OK.
This isn't a film I would personally run to tell my friends about, partly due to the shame of a 22 year old man liking chick-flick-esque films but mainly due to the rushed style of structure. The screenplay let this one down, rushed and again, half arsed. The small roles such as Jaime King's annoyed me slightly too but that could be a personal thing.
All in all my verdict is, surprisingly, worth a watch. I never really swear off watching something a second time but this will be one I won't be thinking about again until it shows up on film4. Don't expect too much and you'll have a 'nice' hour and forty minutes :) -
Ashleypl527 August 2015Really Enjoyed this movie, this did rather reminded me of So Undercover which Miley Cyrus starred in a few years ago. However this was much better, not as cheesy!
Barely Lethal is Very much a teen movie and predominantly for a female/teen audience. Haley Stanford plays lead role of a girl who wants to be a 'Normal teenager and experience a life of school and boys' but is unable to due to her training as a child to be an assassin. Very cliché and predictable but never the less, it is great. A Feel good movie which is great for the whole family!
Good cast with this movie to, Nice to see Jessica Alba and Jaime King making an appearance. Deserves more credit, and better ratings than 5.5 ! -
Sign me up NOOOOW! I love this move; it's simple however very endearing. I love Hailee Steinfeld. She's super gorg. Barely Lethal is really original, cute fun that's terrifically geared towards female teens. I love young Sophie Turner as the rival spy and Jessica Alba too has a great part in this and is really good. I love Jessica Alba so much. Barely Lethal is a 1-of-a-kind adventure.
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rooprect9 October 2020Imagine rifling through your DVD collection and grabbing Salt, Get Smart, 16 Candles & Fatal Attraction and throwing them all into a blender. Aside from getting a lot of DVD splinters in your face, you'll get an experience like none other.
"Barely Lethal" is the story of a teenage girl who is a highly trained assassin but she can't survive a week in high school. The setup is brilliant. Almost satirical, but not quite, it takes us to the realm of utter absurdity, but underneath it all is a solid metaphor about the difficulties of adolescence. This is a timeless story which is why it's fun for all ages & demographics. I'm male and old enough that I saw "The Breakfast Club" in the movie theater when it came out ...and I loved this flick.
If you are prepared for some wild wtf swings in plot, tone, theme and presentation (or even better, if you can see it as part of this film's charm) then you might love this flick, too. In the Making-Of bonus features, you can see that the entire cast is having a blast and acting like teenagers during filming. This translates into great on-screen chemistry as well as some genuine silly fun. As 40-year-old Dan Fogler (the hilarious Mr. Drumm) says, "My maturity level definitely dropped a few points."
The comedy is mostly situational; in other words there aren't a ton of punchline gags & snappy zingers, but there are several great LOL moments worth the price of admission. There are also some wonderfully unexpected role-reversals, such as the scene where our nerdy heroine meets the cheerleader gang for the first time. And I saved the best for last: the climactic fight scene! Physically impressive, dramatically intense, and logistically HILARIOUS (it happens on the dance floor at homecoming), the action in this flick may be over the top, but that's sorta the point. A+ for originality in being the only teen romance flick in history which takes us to a knockdown, dragout, punchbowl shattering fight scene at a dance. If you can get past the "wtf" factor, you'll have a great time. -
There must be a shortage of capable men, that's why women now seem to be the ones taking over in saving the world (if not doing something that only men usually do). Well, at least, that's how it looks in movies. We've seen Katniss Everdeen and Tris Prior lead powerful rebellions against their respective ironfisted governments, Clary Fray battle demons and supernaturals, and Jupiter Jones get crowned as the cosmic queen. I mean, from becoming mere sexual objects for playboy billionaires, they've gone as far as being the supreme leader of the universe, what else can these women do just so they could equate themselves with men? What about as an international assassin?
In Barely Lethal, 16 year-old Megan Walsh (not her real name) is a trained international assassin. This premise already engages interest and holds so much potential, but it fails to deliver a satisfying result. The problem begins when Megan leaves the academy where little girls are trained to become assassins. She fakes her death and enrolls herself in a suburban highschool, hoping everything is going to be normal. Only it turns out it isn't as easy as it seems. From here, the trajectory of the narrative disappoints immensely. It begins undermining the capacity of its lead character by dismissing the fact that she is a trained killer, exposing her vulnerabilities and teenage dramas, instead. This isn't a totally a insane idea, she's 16-year old, after all. But getting further dragged by bland one liners and intertwining subplots, makes it even worse. Eventually, in the wake of its competing concerns, it loses grip of its own direction and struggles to arrive to a decent endpoint. It also doesn't succeed tapping the utmost otential of its strong supports by not giving them enough material to work with. Jessica Alba and Samuel Jackson barely do something here, though there may be some little moments with their presence, that aren't really devoid of wit. Almost everything just falls flat, and the comic effort couldn't provide any aid, either, to redeem its sagging narrative.
By the time the movie is already fast approaching its finale, it isn't any more surprise if Megan never came close to any of those heroines mentioned earlier, and it really disappoints that she never really came to be someone interesting, either. Well, you may want to blame that to her unconvincing chemistry (not saying there's any) with both her love interests, and a boring villain whose presence may have only really felt during the last action sequence of the movie.
BARELY LETHAL wastes almost every promising attribute it has to live up to its overwhelming potential. In the end, it abandons what could be a unique take on the young espionage genre, and sets itself taking the leads of countless others it seems to emulate. The result is barely fulfilling. -
dallaswhiskey2 November 2017This was a thoroughly enjoyable ride from a fresh director and features great performances from three promising young actresses.
Hailee Steinfeld continues to show her versatility as Megan, a trained assassin who just wants to be a normal teenager. Dove Cameron gives a strong performance as the daughter of the host family. I hope to see her in many more movies. Sophie Turner plays Megan's nemesis and has less scenes, but shines in the ones she's in, especially in the end. I'm very much looking forward to seeing her in the title role of X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
The guys in this flick are mostly ornaments. Good old Samuel L. J. and Jessica Alba also play second fiddle here to the youngsters.
Definitely worth a watch. Some action, some high school drama, very much fun. Looking out for more from director Kyle Newman. -
SnoopyStyle23 July 2018Megan Walsh (Hailee Steinfeld) is 83. She, Heather 84 (Sophie Turner), and other girls are trained to be assassins by Hardman (Samuel L. Jackson). She grows tired of her work and pines to be a regular high school girl. During an operation to capture Victoria Knox (Jessica Alba), she escapes and pretends to be an exchange student from Regina, Canada. Her host family is a divorced mother (Rachael Harris), snarky teen Liz Larson (Dove Cameron), and little boy Parker. All she knows about high school is from teen comedies which gets her into trouble. Both hunky musician Cash Fenton and AV nerd Roger Marcus take a liking to her.
This has a few IT girls on the rise. There are a surprising amount of talent, both kids and adults, in a silly teen movie. It does try to subvert the teen movie tropes. It's just weird that it does it in a childish style. It struggles to find its true voice. It's both sincere and sarcastic. Steinfeld is sincerity incarnate. The set up is stupider than Spy Kids. It's an awkward blend that fails to be compelling. The only compelling aspect is that one roots for Hailee but this is stupid and not in a fun way. -
Pheeke8 December 2015People don't seem to like this movie and i'm not sure why. yes it's formulaic, yes it's cliché, but I still think it's fun! What can i say, i'm a sucker for girly teen movies.
This film is very predictable, but I like that it's a mix between a high school movie and an action/spy movie. there is not a lot of character development but I still liked the characters and I understood their motives. Samuel L. Jackson's was hilarious as Hardman and Hailee Steinfeld was well cast as the main character Megan Walsh.
For me there where laugh-out-loud moments, I think the movie had a great sense of humour that made it upbeat and witty.
This movie was charming and a ton of fun. I certainly see why people would think its dumb or even stupid because of its formulaic nature, but i liked it. A feel-good movie that is very charming and entertaining. -
The movie idea is really nice, genuine and fresh , the events are connected perfectly and the script looked really tight.. even though there were some predictability in it and the trailer kinda exposed most of the story but i still weirdly found it intriguing and catchy.
The genre was all about "Action | Adventure | Comedy" but honestly the "real" action element only presented in the first mission we saw agent 83 does and in the last fight with 84 , so to me the Humorous Comedy shown by most of the cast was really good and it made the movie more appealing.
As for the cast, i will state those who were really awesome in the movie and did their part really well and those who were just okay, Samuel L. Jackson he was amazing with a spot on performance, This year i'v watched also in Big Game and he got the same lovable personality .. Dan Fogler, Gabriel Basso and Rob Huebel they were hilarious and i wished to see more of them.. as for Thomas Mann the guy from project x maybe the script didn't give him a chance to do much ... Sophie Turner was just good did what were asked from her ,, i mean to be fair did more than what i saw in game of thrones ;D Rachael Harris appearance was nice , and not trying to be harsh but Dove Cameron was literally acting like she wasn't into the role ... but anyway it doesn't matter .. the movie went fine.
So Overall, it is a nice movie and suitable for family night ,, the amazingly balanced funny script and the nice performance by the cast made it look like this. -
billygoat10715 May 2015Don't get me wrong, Barely Lethal sounds like a cool idea, setting in an intriguing world where kids are raised to become assassins, and this story also concerns the main character seeking to live as a normal teenager. It's not really the most novel idea, but it could work, if it was smarter or more imaginative, but the result was neither. No matter how charming the tone and the actors are, one can't help that there is still a lot of untouched potentials that may turn this at least a little cult classic or a stronger film. Instead it just follows the clichés which makes it rather forgettable.
This is basically a half quirkier version of an undercover spy movie and half a teen movie. It may not sound so original, but there is some cases that may bring a different approach to this concept. Megan happens to be not fond of her cold-blooded home, apparently because this job was never her thing. She also isn't able to fit in to the ordinary high school life because of her strange and sometimes violent behavior that has grown with her. It talks about how lonely to be a secret agent and also how complicated high school is, but the film hardly explores these conflicts and rather follows the most familiar tropes. And there, the movie almost becomes a total teen comedy in the middle act, where it settles so much in whatever you'll predictably get in this genre. This can be somewhat forgivable if the action movie side is creative or memorable, but it's so underdeveloped, the film doesn't fully acknowledge the consequences the characters will soon be facing, until it actually shows up. There's just not enough enthusiasm involved when it comes to this area of the story.
But then, this is a comedy. Sure, it lightly pokes fun about the kids being trained as killers, Megan's awkwardness in high school, and the parental advice from one of the characters, but that's about it. The humor only works occasionally, some gets a little forced. To be fair, it's all bearable. Mostly thanks by its cast: Hailee Steinfeld helps elevating this rather bland character with a nice amount of likability. She may not convince that she's a highly trained assassin that her behavior has presented, but she still makes for a competent hero for the movie, anyway.
There is a chances that Barely Lethal can be a way better movie than this, by either embracing its larger-than-life world of young killers or work more on its potential themes. But the film decided to choose the less compelling choices. It may have a likable personality that helped made it watchable, but there's nothing else to enjoy in the end. The interesting stuff are underdeveloped and the story relies so much on the clichés. The premise sounds like it's gonna be some cool YA action film, but the only thing it offers is attitude and that's quite obvious for a movie with this title. -
hekiv21 May 2015SPOILERS! If you aren't into the whole "this is about a serious topic and yet it's funny" then this isn't the movie for you. This is another one of these typical teenage movies where you would think it's a Disney movie if it wasn't for all the swearing and sexual innuendos.
However, there is no real action in this movie, even if it's about assassins. It's more about a girl trying to be normal. Like a lot of other teen movies.
But still pretty good, and for those who have been raised by foster families, this movie might hit them a little to close to home. But still, this movie about assassins and there is no actual killing or blood, nothing really violent.
I do wonder, as do those who enjoyed this movie and waited the extra minute and a half to see the ending scene after the credits, if there will be a sequel? One where Meghan goes to college, and has to fight her nemesis again? It would be a chance for the movie makers to have a new chance. The sequel can be better than the first one. I don't know any movie series where that's true, but I believe in optimism. -
planktonrules11 August 2015The idea behind Barely Lethal is that the government has some sort of top secret program that adopts orphan girls and trains them to be ninja-like assassins. Sounds a bit like Spy Kids and at least the first Spy Kids film was good. So, I went into watching this film with relatively high expectations--especially when it's billed as a comedy. Plus the boss is played by Samuel L. Jackson...and everyone loves Samuel L. Jackson, right?
There is trouble brewing at this secret agency. Megan (Hailee Steinfeld) is a great little killer but secretly she harbors a dream to be a normal teenage girl. When it looks like she's been killed on a mission she decides to use this opportunity to disappear and reinvent herself as a high school student so that she can experience a normal life. So why did the film utterly fail for me? Well, the film appeared to be a comedy but almost never made me laugh. A HUGE infusion of humor really would have helped. It was at times just too serious. Additionally, the film much like any teen film--with the same clichés (such as the nerdy but nice guy she meets but ignores until she finally realizes he's dreamy...just like I saw in The Duff and several other teen films) and same inappropriate content (such as the hilarious notion of calling one of the characters 'Rape-it Ralph'--which is about as funny as jokes about pedophilia or cancer). The bottom line is that the film started off with nice credits, an interesting premise and then it just went nowhere for me. In the film's defense, I am not exactly the target audience but shouldn't any audience deserve a bit better than a by the numbers teen film that promises to be different but really, down deep, isn't? Plus...Rape-it Ralph?!?!
If you care, the film was just released on DVD this week to Netflix but I think you could do so much better, such as the great OLD teen movie Better Off Dead...now THAT is a funny and original teen movie! -
docm-323049 November 2021Hey, chill out all you Roger Ebert wannabees. This is a simple teenage comedy, but it is fun so just relax and enjoy it...it's called entertainment no Oscar trash. I thoroughly enjoyed this film, devoid of f-bombs, drugs, profanity and propaganda...it's simply a comedy if you can remember what those were like. AND for lovers of puns...you'll get this flick.
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Garcwrites26 May 2015After watching it I was seriously debating talking about it - because I'm not exactly within the target demo. Kyle Newman directed the movie and I have to admit that when I looked him up, I was crossing my fingers that Barely Lethal was his first feature film otherwise I would have lost my mind. The premise behind the film is interesting or at the very least would make for an entertaining movie.
I don't wanna lie the movie is bad. I guess if I was younger or more gullible I would have enjoyed this movie immensely but I'm not. It was just nice to see Jessica Alba in an ass-kicking role again. I had to pretty much turn my brain off to watch the whole movie but two things happens once I was done watching it.
The first I don't know how Hailee Steinfeld ever got nominated for an Oscar. I mean I haven't seen True Grit yet so she maybe deserved the nomination but every movie I've seen her in since she was bad and Barely Lethal is no different. She is lovable though.
The other thing the movie did for me, was to show me that Sophie Turner can act. She proved she has range by stepping away from Sansa, which only now leads me to believe that her portrayal of Sansa in Game of Thrones is a performance and not her being herself on the show. I am now hopeful for Jean Grey in X-Men: Apocalypse.
Barely Lethal is not movie of the year but it's somewhat entertaining, it'll remind you of the terrible movies you liked when you were young. @wornoutspines -
RubyMouse21 August 2019I needed a break from the real world and this did the trick. It just about clears average and is perfectly watchable. I thought some of the riffs on the tropes of teen comedy were amusing for anyone who'd seen the originals - although I have to admit I didn't laugh an awful lot. It is what it is: not every film can be an oscar contender.
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Stick every movie cliche from every genre in a blender and see what comes out. It's not gonna spit out a masterpiece, but they won't all be trainwrecks.
This one is okay. Better than okay for most younger audiences. Don't take yourself or this movie so serious. Lighten up and have some popcorn. -
Zeta-One30 August 2015I'm not gonna lie, this film is basically high school story meets spy thriller for teens. Agent 83 (Hailee Steinfeld) works for a government group named Prescott, which teaches orphans at a young age to kill targets by following mission profiles. Victoria Knox (Jessica Alba), a weapons dealer, is one of the targets of Hardman (Samuel L. Jackson), the leader of the Prescotts, is looking for. In an encounter with Knox, Agent 83 is reported inactive, and Agent 84, another Prescott, takes over.
Wanting to have a normal life like normal people, Agent 83 goes undercover with the name, Megan, as an exchange student from Canada. At first, Megan faces a lot of pressure from high school, but eventually learns to face it upfront and to stick with her new family. At the same time, Victoria Knox escapes prison, and plans to kill Megan once and for all.
Acting was pretty good to brilliant in this film. Hailee Steinfeld was believable, and she really did well to act her role as a government spy and a high schooler. Both Jessica Alba and Samuel L. Jackson were brilliant, and it seemed as though they were enjoying their roles. The rest of the cast were good or brilliant as well, some were even impressive.
The plot points were laced out well and were easy to follow through. However, there are some scenes in the film that weren't necessary, for instance, Gooch's party. They could have used another way to lay out the scenes for boyfriend-girlfriend relationships, but nonetheless, the film was entertaining and at the very least, watchable.
Despite the good acting and plot, the action scenes were very mediocre, predictable, and at some points, boring. For example, there was a scene were Agent 84 reveals herself as a double agent, and attacks Megan. The scene was filled with boring, monotone, speeches and dissing, and then ended with a predictable stab by Liz (Dove Cameron), one of the people in Megan's new family.
The ending scene was predictable and clichéd with Victoria Knox taking over Megan's new family and having a one on one duel with Megan. Knox pulls out the clichéd "He (in reference to Hardman) won't be back" quote, and finds out that he came back for Megan. Although the scene was at least slightly entertaining, it was too easy to guess what was going to happen next.
I suppose, for a teen film, it was overall, entertaining and watchable. Although the film had some mediocre and boring moments, this is a film you can definitely decide to watch in your free time.
Rating: 7/10 -
Gordon-1123 July 2015This film is about a teenage girl who is raised in an isolated school where children are trained to be assassins. She longs for a normal teen life, and decides to go rogue and fake her own death. She lives in a small town as an exchange student in the local high school, but high school life is not what she dreams to be. In the process of adaptation, she finds friendship and love. It is an interesting plot, combining a teenage comedy with some action. It is quite impressive that the filmmakers manage to cast two big names, which certainly helps with the marketing of the film. "Barely Lethal" is a different teenage comedy with a twist. It's quite fun to watch.
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whytejamaican19 June 2015I have to say the cast of the main character, Hailee Steinfeld was a poor choice. She was too much of a "cute girl next door" which made it hard to believe she was an assassin. Her weak, emotional character bothered me the entire movie. Unfortunately, I thought the secondary roles of Dove Cameron (Liz) and Jessica Alba (Knox) showed better acting skills.
Great storyline and they could've done so much with it, rather than turn it into a corny teeny-bop movie. The movie was choppy, unbelievable and didn't flow properly. Wish you guys had taken it to another level - this was a really promising storyline. -
rjb5713 August 2018Candy coated, sure, but not without poignancy. Above-par acting and a great cast elevate this slightly formulaic farce. Close your cold hard eye and have fun with this one. Some laugh-out-loud moments and great fight choreography. Hope to see the talented lead actress in more films.
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First off let me point out that even though Samuel L Jackson and Jessica Alba gets top-billing they are just co-stars, important co-stars but co- stars none the less that show up every now and then in the movie.
The real lead however is Hailee Steinfeld who plays a teenage assassin gone AWOL in order for her to live a normal life and a lot of the focus of the movie is her trying to adjust to (a extremely typical American movie) high school.
And although there is very little groundbreaking material in the script it did manage to keep me entertained through out the running time and I did find myself laughing here and there.
The movie is rated PG-13 so all the violence and gags etc are fairly harmless (although initially the film received an R-rating, the film-makers appealed and got their PG-13 without having to cut anything out, so just barely PG-13 then).
Sophie Turner from Game Of Thrones is a co-star and she get to show that she can kick some ass as well which was cool, Dan Fogler is pretty funny as a teacher and there is a cameo from one of the guys in Jackass (won't say who as that might take away the surprise factor a bit) but he was funny as well.
So yeah overall nothing amazing but perfectly watchable when you're looking for some mindless popcorn entertainment. -
leonblackwood31 October 2015Review: I stupidly rented this movie because I thought that it was going to be another Kick Ass/Scott Pilgrim type movie but it basically turned out to be about a teenage girl going to college. BORING! There are some other elements to the storyline which would have been interesting if the director would have stuck to the plot from the beginning but it drifts off to be a cheesy and uninteresting film. Anyway, it's about a young girl called Megan Walsh (Hailee Steinfeld) who, from a young age, attends an elite school for special ops agents. With Hardman (Samuel L. Jackson) looking over her shoulder while she is going through some gruesome training, she craves for a normal teenage life and she spends her nights watching TV shows and reading teenage magazines. Hardman knows that she is the best agent in her group, so he sends her on a exclusive mission to take-down Victoria Knox (Jessica Alba), who is a intelligent arms dealer. Whilst on the mission, she fakes her own death and she applies to live with a family as an exchange student. This is when the movie switches to a everyday college movie! She then finds it difficult to fit into everyday life but with the help of her new found friend, she soon settles down and she finds a potential boyfriend who is the lead singer in a popular band at school. It doesn't take long for her past to catch up on her and Victoria Knox manages to track her down and threatens to ruin her new life. It must have looked good on paper but on screen, it's really not that good. The girl who was playing the lead, was definitely not special ops material and the whole American, teenager at college concept has been done to death. She goes through the usual elements that a teenage girl goes through at school like; fitting in, finding a boyfriend, going to prom, and making friends so the whole concept fell flat once she left the agency. The couple of action scenes weren't bad and the few scenes with Jessica Alba and Samuel L. Jackson were OK but the rest of the film was a waste of time. The director tried to make the ending interesting by hinting that there might be a sequel but after the poor box office takings and terrible critics reviews, I'm sure that this project won't be brought to the big screen again. It might make a decent TV series though! Terrible!
Round-Up: The director, Kyle Newmarket, 39, had the makings of a good film because he had a good cast to work with but he made a right mess of it. Other titles to his name are the Hollow and Fanboys, starring Seth Rogen but apart from that, he's only directed the comic version of Spartacus, the Crazies TV series and a documentary on Taylor Swift. You can definitely tell that he lacks experience whilst watching the film because there was no originality to the project and it just seemed like he had watched too many John Hughes movies. Anyway, you might recognise the girl who played the lead, Hailee Steinfeld, 18, from her brilliant performance in True Grit. She's also starred in the Homesman which was directed by Tommy Lee Jones, 3 Days to Kill with Kevin Costner, Begin Again, Romeo & Juliet, Enders Game, which was a disappointing film starring Harrison Ford and Pitch Perfect 2. She wasn't the best choice to play a special ops agent but her acting style worked when it came to the whole "teenager at college" part of the movie. It's just a shame that the director wasted the good cast and he didn't put the budget to good use.
Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $6,000 (Terrible!)
I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/adventure/comedies starring Jaime King, Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Alba, Hailee Steinfeld and Sophie Turner. 2/10