High Heat

As I stumbled upon the 2022 action comedy "High Heat", here late in 2022, I had never heard about the movie. But seeing that the movie had Don Johnson and Olga Kurylenko on the cast list, and having read the movie's synopsis, I was actually having some expectations for the movie.

And now as the movie has come to and end, I am sitting here with an overwhelming sensation of having been cheated out of something grander and somewhat having been wasting my time on a subpar movie. Writer James Pedersen didn't exactly churn out a grand script here for director Zach Golden to work with. Sure, "High Heat" was watchable and had good production value to it, but the storyline was rather flaccid.

It was nice definintely nice to watch Don Johnson and Olga Kurylenko in the leading roles, but they didn't have a wholesome script to work with. And I have to say that the option for bringing on Dallas Page to play the main bad guy in the movie wasn't exactly a stroke of genius.

"High Heat" came and went without leaving a lasting impression, and it is a movie that will slowly, quietly, but surely, dwindle into the mists of oblivion and never be brought out and viewed as second time. It was, in fact, a rather forgettable and sort of pointless action comedy.

My rating of "High Heat" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Well, seeing Don Johnson and Olga Kurylenko work on the same project is always tempting and interesting, however doesn't necessarily mean that it will be a winning combination. This movie is kind of a mixture between Mr & Mrs Smith meets Desperate Housewifes meets Boiling Point. The director wanted to put this all together and hope for a fun outcome, but it ended up being a drag although it is only 80 minutes... The side roles appear suddenly like they fall from the sky with no whatsoever background story or connection, just a few sentences between them to get it over with. The story is the cheesiest possible and reminds of an old school action movies when everyone was a former KGB or Cia agent etc.. In the end very boring and dragged out movie although with Don and Olga on board had the potential for more fun.

Despite the run time is 1h24m which is in movie terms a little above being a short , you'd still feel the pace is really slow that you can do errands at time of watching and not miss much .

As for the plot , basically the upcoming hints are incorporated in trailers , so hardly a spoiler yet at least not from my behalf .

So they tried to kill her "kitchen" so this ex spy go on a hunt to kill all Mafia elements involved in this plot , they keep throwing at her multiple assassins but she get rid of them all .

If this doesn't remind you of John Wick (a lite version of him perhaps) then you probably haven't seen John Wick (Needless to say they do not reach the fight scenes level) .

Funny enough even both are Russians in their plots .

High Heat is a bit of a wacky Action/Spy/Thriller complete with Assassins and Mercenaries and Mobsters and Psychopathic ex-best friends!

Anna (Olga Kurylenko) is a chef and she and her husband Ray (Don Johnson) own and operate a restaurant together. But on the the restaurants opening night the celebration is interrupted by the local mobsters coming to collect on Ray's debt. Now what they did not expect was a top ex-KGB agent Anna.... a highly trained ex-KGB agent.

The restaurant turns into a bloody battleground as Ray and Anna team up to defend their restaurant.

I really like High Heat... Really good actors, Don Johnson, Olga Kurylenko and Caitlin Doubleday as Mimi Is absolutely brilliant.

The script does fall a bit short on the comedy side, I think some of the humorous dialogue goes on way too long. But still a fun popcorn movie night.

A one-location and "defend the fort" type of movie, with an attempt at colorful characters and a bunch of bad guys that rush in to their death under the pretense of a thin-layer of a story.

I'll be honest! The alluring, creative and simple intro credits won me over! Then the repetitive and dull dialogue started to lose me.. Doesn't help that most of the cast is comprised of boring roles (with a few exceptions that probably shine when compared) and their interactions forgettable. The pacing is meandering and the sporadic "action scenes" aren't worth it. Even if the camerawork is commendable. I also noticed strange and choppy editing cuts, including sounds abruptly ending.. as if rushed. And when Olga's stunt double is SO visibly-not-her on screen (and doesn't even look like her) for longer than she is, you mark this as a disappointing night.

If you see the SABAN Films logo, you tone down your expectations.