Antton Nikula's latest entry in the "Jack Stone" series manages to work in both serious action set pieces and charming humorous situations into one entertaining flick! Agent Stone is put in an interesting scenario where he has to investigate more than what we have seen before. So, it's not fully action-packed the entire way through. This is a film that takes its time instead of rushing things. I thought it was a nice change of pace to follow Stone's journey more closely. You get to understand him as a person a lot and it's pretty impressive for a short film. Antton Nikula (credited with his pseudonym Tony Cole) portrays this character so well at this point. There's so many nuances and gestures that seems to indicate that there's a bigger conflict going on in his mind. What makes this chapter stand out is that our main character faces an important question: "How to handle defeat?". You can't always rely on the hero to be on top of the game and figure everything out. Here the filmmakers explore what he goes through at his weakest point. We have a combination of different things that make it work so well. Firstly; The villains are memorable. A little over the top, but that's what makes it fun. He is also the opposite of Stone himself by being so explosive in his behavior. Secondly; Jack Stone is the best agent in the service. He appears as a professional and it's just great to see him solve the cases he gets. There's a nice level of escapism brought to the table. You wish you could solve things and get out of bad situations as well as our movie heroes. It's good to have some of that because characters like that can be motivational. To see Stone in this type of peril makes us root for him more. It also leaves the room for some character development, which is another impressive thing that this short film highlights. We can so easily forget that Stone isn't just an expert agent. He is also a normal man like us who has his own personal life. It makes us wonder how much this all affects him personally.
Whenever the action arrives it has an extra strong impact on you because of the focus on the characters. The choreography is flawless and full of clever moments. With all of the seriousness going on it's easy to forget to have fun. But, here we actually get plenty of comedic lines and they really landed. It never becomes jarring because the transitions from the jokey moments to the dramatic ones feels natural. It's pretty inspirational for me to see such dedication brought to this project. You can tell how much detail was put into the dialogue, locations and overall story. Thomas Sandford's H is also a very like-able presence. He appears to be a pretty loyal person with kind intentions. Being Stone's boss he has to be as commanding as possible while giving out the missions. But he can't help to appear innocent, so it's relate-able. The cold winter setting suits the tone perfectly. There's something about the wintry landscapes that just works so well with these movies. Otto Nilsson once again provides a classic score with many parts that I can see myself humming on. I don't really have anything negative to say because I felt the whole thing never lost pace and most importantly; It kept surprising me with its character elements. It's my favorite "Jack Stone" film so far and I would recommend you check it out.
