This movie had so much promise - gritty thrills, a murderers row of acting giants, a likeable, talented lead and a stylized feel. One look at the trailer and you feel like it's a hyper-violent Mother/Daughter version of John Wick.
Not so. This film is an absolute mess. The dialogue sounds like someone doing a terrible knockoff of Tarantino if they only had 100 words in their vocabulary. The shots are too long - the editing is nonexistent; sometimes shots seem out of focus for artistic effect; other times it's like they forgot to edit shots out. Take out the overlong shots and slow motion and the film would likely be an hour long. The characters don't make sense, the story has no logic.
The worst part of the film is the wasted talent. Bassett, Headey, Giamatti, and Yeoh are masters of their craft, Gugino, as always, is a delight, and Gillian is an unparalleled talent - she's done great work in comedy and in some huge franchises. This is a killer cast, and they are absolutely wasted. It feels like some takes are the first and only takes, (Michelle Yeoh, who is an icon, is terrible in this and I guarantee you it's because the director had no clue on how to direct her).
On top of all of this, is a slow, plodding pace and suprisingly poor fight choreography. The greatest sin of all? It's dreadfully boring. Director Papushado should rethink his career, because this had all the makings of a hit, and turns out to be a completely inept, utter misfire, made worse by wasting the talents of its cast.
