The Doorman

People could call this a cheap movie (by hollywood standards).. I'd say it has more of an indie-feel.. With sloppy camera work that makes a mess of action scenes, and boring interactions and dialogue. This is one of those that isn't worth watching for any reason. You won't learn anything, isn't fun to criticize, and will be forgotten the next day. The plot is as simple as it could be summarized in one line of text, and none of the characters are decent or memorable (not even the little girl who you are supposed to like).. with the exception of Jean Reno, maybe, who poses as a smart and calculating villain. He does a fine job, but for his resume, it is rather lacking.

I wouldn't recommend it, not even for the action. It's too average in every department.

The lead character is very likeable. She does good fight scenes and is an up and coming actress. As a lead she held her own but she's not quite ready for the major leagues yet. So that's how I see this film. It is the seasoning process for a future massive action star. I'm pretty sure she will become a huge franchise actress someday. In that sense watching a movie like this shows her more humble beginnings.

Normally I'm a very forgiving person when it comes to movie like The Doorman and just Die Hard rip off movies in general but when you got a pretty stacked cast and Ryuhei fricking Kitamura as the director and the result is just another bargain bin action flick then what are you even doing here? I mean Ruby Rose as a lead action heroine is not a bad choice when she can pull out some believable action scenes but beside her everyone from Dan Southworth, Louis Mandylor, and Jean Reno they all acting like they don't even want to be in this movie, to be honest. There not a glimpse of Ryuhei's over the top filming style up until the final act and even it can't even save the whole goddamn movie from itself. I hope this movie is just a quick warm-up for Ryuhei Kitamura before he goes on and directs that Versus remake cause I'm definitely not buying this one.

The Doorman (2020) is fairly typical of low-budget direct-to-video made-in-Eastern-Europe fare. Production values are better than average for similar films. The actors do as well as can be expected with the material they're provided. But the screenplay is uninspired, with far too many coincidences, contrivances, and familiar tropes. The movie seems very similar to Force of Nature (2020), starring Mel Gibson, which also suffered from far too many coincidences.

Ruby Rose handles her fight scenes fairly well, but could have been replaced by a department store mannequin in some of the other scenes. Jean Reno delivers an effortless performance as the villain, which is nevertheless interesting to watch. Aksel Hennie, Rupert Evans, and Philip Whitchurch deliver credible performances. Some scenes drag; many are predictable. It's what might be termed a multi-tasking video, one that can be watched while doing something else without missing much.

Where Die Hard was funny, The Doorman is cringeworthy. Where Die Hard was visceral, The Doorman is pathetic. Where Die Hard has action, The Doorman has quick viewpoint change scenes to hide how ridiculous they are. Where Die Hard had an intelligent, pompous and scary villain, The Doorman has a stupid old Frenchman. Die Hard had a budget, The Doorman had an unused building. The acting is terrible, the plot is ridiculous, the characters are cardboard and still they couldn't get them right. How can anyone fail this much?

For crying out loud, there are five Die Hard movies there and the one you are trying to copy from was made in '88. You had 32 years to do it right! Ruby Rose was two years old when that movie came out! What more do you need?!

Bottom line: If at least they would have gender swapped it and copied the rest this would have been a good movie. No, they had to completely mess it up. Avoid this boring unsuccessful attempt at a movie.