The Contractor

I was reading an article on how Chris Pine has the potential to become the next Robert Redford. He is a good actor and I think his fine face gave him an advantage, but then trapped him into these mindless action roles. Robert Redford may be too much, but with age, I think he may be heading towards the start of his real career.

Unfortunately, just having him hog almost the entire screen time doesn't save this formulaic film from being completely average. Pine's character is good, he is trusting, his trust is broken (for unfathomable reasons), he breaks things back. You've seen it before. The other people in the cast that you might recognize are there only to bait you into buying the film and they are irrelevant to the story. What is terrible is that the systemic issue that the film reveals at the beginning remains unaddressed. Everybody who dies in the film is a victim and the ending provides absolutely no closure as related to the actual problem.

Bottom line: guys gets angry and kills everybody. It makes one feel better about their own powerlessness and frustration, but tells no story and solve no problem. Having Ben Foster, Kiefer Sutherland, Eddie Marson, even Florian Munteanu in the cast for just a few minutes or even seconds is a crime. Filmed in Romania.

We've watched movies about black ops gone awry. What's different in this movie is how the subject is treated. It's commendable. It's well-executed and well-edited. Thus, it's immersive.

The viewer is glued to his seat as he watches how James extricates himself from a life-threatening situation.

While the focus is on the action, the film doesn't ignore human interest. The drama is heartfelt like the scene with James and the scientist in his lab. Or how Mike dotes on his crippled son. Or the all-too-brief scene with James and Virgil at the safehouse. Or the encounter between James and Mike in the parking lot.

The movie also shines a soft light on the situation of ex-military men when they are discharged from the service.

Chris Pine is great here. Praise has to be given to director Tarik Saleh and writer JP Davies.

Obviously a Jason Bourne copycat, but that doesnt mean it is a terrible movie.

The good: I kinda appreciated the slow start, by which I got to know the CHARACTERS. At the start this movie is basically a character drama. But only after 35 minutes or so, the full blown action is unleashed. So give it some time, you'll be rewarded for your patience, OR simply skip the first 35 minutes.

The bad: many will get bored by the slowburning start, but give this story some time to start up.

More bad: there are some credibility issues with the story. For example they raid a laboratory and within minutes the German police is present with full gear. NOT likely to happen for real. But perhaps I am nitpicking...

To conclude, this is NOT as good as any of the Jason Bourne movies, but in lack of any new Jason Bourne movies this will (barely) do,

The story: an American soldier, desperate for money and a family to take care of, hesitatingly agrees to work for a shady private contractor company, becoming a hired gun. Soon he finds out he is being set up and the company that hired him is about to kill him. Will he come out alive?

Chris Pine performs admirably for his part... Unfortunately, the story doesn't have much to say. Nothing about it is memorable. It seems like a script more suited to Stallone, Arnold, or Bruce Willis in their youth. Pine, you are too young for this mediocrity. Leave these kinds of scripts for the older guys. By the way, I hated the Steve Trevor of Wonder Woman 1984. That was worse than this.

In conclusion, I am left with the question what was the point of this film? I think younger people might like it for the gun fights.

Rated as 5.8 here. It's not a blockbuster 10 for sure, but I thought it was better than a 5 or a 6, Sutherland just really walked through a couple of times and that was it. Chris Pine carried this movie. Had he not done that this movie wouldn't have made it.

The main character's discharge was not realistic as it doesn't happen that fast. If he was discharged honorably he still receives his pension and benefits since he didn't face a court martial . And a shoot out on the streets of Berlin?!?! That just wouldn't happen as the German police would be all over it.

No, Chris Pine carried this movie in spite of some unrealistic parts in the script.