Review: Those Who Wish Me Dead

Angelina Jolie plays a PTSD-suffering ‘smoke jumper’ (specially-trained wildfire firefighters who traditionally parachute in) forced to protect a 12 year-old boy (Aussie actor Finn Little) from a pair of cold-blooded assassins (Aiden Gillen, Nicholas Hoult) who want him dead after he witnessed them kill his father (Jake Weber). Dear ‘ol dad was a forensic accountant who worked for the DA, and when said DA gets murdered by the assassins, Weber fears he’s next, going on the run with son in tow. The idea was to stay with Weber’s brother-in-law, a deputy sheriff played by Jon Bernthal. Obviously, that plan didn’t pan out and now the kid must rely on an adrenaline junkie firefighter who has lost her way after a fatal incident on the job. Tyler Perry turns up as the mysterious employer of the two assassins.

 

Although some seem to have found it a bit disappointing, I found this 2021 thriller from director Taylor Sheridan (writer of “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water”) and his co-writers Michael Koryta (author of the book the film is based on) and Charles Leavitt (“K-PAX”, “Blood Diamond”, “Warcraft: The Beginning”) to be largely entertaining. It’s kind of a throwback to action-thrillers of the mid-to-late 90s (Plot or structure-wise, think a mixture of “Cliffhanger”, “Mercury Rising”, “Blind Fury”, and “Switchback”), and I’m totally fine with that when it’s done well. It’s done pretty well here. I’m just a bit surprised Sheridan has directed it instead of Renny Harlin (“Cliffhanger”), Andrew Davis (“Under Siege”, “The Fugitive”), or Richard Donner (“Lethal Weapon”). The basic set-up is interesting though parts are familiar – A film about a woman who has to protect a kid who saw something criminal? Yeah, we’ve seen that done before in some shape or form, it’s classic thriller plotting. What I really liked about the plot is in the differences – you don’t get a lot of films that mix smoke-jumpers and assassins.

 

Angelina Jolie is a hard actress to cast well, but she’s absolutely ideal here. I think she’s better in genre pictures than in heavy dramas. Also ideal are Aiden Gillen and a soulless Nicholas Hoult as the villains. Hoult has a cold, steel-eyed Jeff Fahey look to him that is perfect for psycho villains but it’s Gillen who really impressed me here and not for the first time. The best thing on TV’s “Game of Thrones”, his very matter-of-fact, seemingly pragmatic characterisation is extraordinarily chilling without being showy. It’s a terrific, well-modulated performance. So far as flaws go, there’s really only one for me: The character played by Tyler Perry seems unnecessary given he leaves the film after a few minutes with one huge hanging thread.

 

This isn’t anything earth-shattering, just a well-executed example of a type of film I enjoy watching. The cast is excellent, especially Jolie and Gillen. Good fun of the somewhat old school variety. I’m not sure what its detractors were expecting.

 

Rating: B-