Review: Survivor


Milla Jovovich is a security director for the US State Department stationed in London, who is overseeing Visa applications for potential terrorist suspects, going by new, more stringent guidelines. These applicants include Dr. Emil Balan, played by Roger Rees in one of his last roles. In staying back to finish her work, she’s late for an after work birthday celebration for her superior Robert Forster. That turns out to be a good thing, because most of her colleagues die in a terrorist bomb blast at the restaurant, the handiwork of The Watchmaker (Pierce Brosnan). She subsequently is framed for murder and forced to go on the run as The Watchmaker is on orders to rub her out. Dylan McDermott plays another of Jovovich’s superiors, who is seemingly the one person she can trust, whilst Angela Bassett plays McDermott’s boss, who doesn’t believe in Jovovich’s innocence. Frances De La Tour is one of Jovovich’s co-workers (who doesn’t attend the party).

 

Not-bad spy thriller from 2015 directed by James McTeigue (“V for Vendetta”, “Ninja Assassin”) and scripted by Philip Shelby (“Mechanic: Resurrection”) given some life by a mostly good cast. It’s easy to see why this comes from Millennium Films, and not a more high-profile enterprise. The material is B, with a B+ cast. Credit where it’s due, Milla Jovovich is well-used and her American accent is getting a lot better. Pierce Brosnan, meanwhile, is rock-solid as the antagonist, but playing the spy thriller equivalent of a dumb, lumbering serial killer doesn’t really give him much to work with. He tries hard, and is a very underrated actor I think. I’m not normally much of a Dylan McDermott fan, but he’s quite well-cast too. However, Robert Forster’s casting is obvious, seeing Angela Bassett in such a functionary role just depresses me nowadays, and the frankly bizarre Frances De La Tour is seriously amateurish.

 

The script isn’t all that great to be honest, as it’s pretty transparent really early on. In fact, I think it reveals the wrong things too early and holds on to the wrong things for the sake of twists and surprises. When you see the film you’ll know what I mean.

 

I love a good conspiracy theory movie. This is a conspiracy theory movie alright, but just an OK one. Jovovich knows how to run, Brosnan could play ice-cold hitman in his sleep, the film is watchable but forgettable. “Salt”, it ain’t.

 

Rating: C+

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