Killer Heat

I don't mind a mystery where I predict the end so long as I enjoy the ride getting there. That's the case for this movie.

It's marketed as noir so, like almost all noir, I predicted the end before I even pressed play. That's the problem with the genre. It has such predictable tropes that you hardly need to know anything about it to guess the ending. And this movie really embraced the classic tropes, which is one reason I liked it, and another reason I found it so predictable.

That said, the setting in Greece, the slow and steady pacing, the enigmatic characters... they made this an enjoyable film to watch. The acting was decent and so was the writing. These days, with the constant churn of streaming content where quantity matters over quality, that means something.

A mystery so trite that you see all the (very few) twists from very far and in fact the twist is that there is no surprise at all. Not that it makes any sense by the way when you think about it for one second. This movie is so cliche it borders on parody but it takes itself very seriously.

I guess this was an excuse for all involved to have a vacation in Crete, maybe a tax scheme for the producers also, otherwise no idea why this movie even exists.

It's not even awful. It's ok and if you never saw a whodunit in your life I guess there are worse things to watch but in any other case don't bother.

It just didn't have any real heart. It was lackluster at every turn occasionally however, some bright spots shown through. A line here a line there.

Beautifully shot in a beautiful location, the cinematography was absolutely great. I just wish they had cut at least 10 minutes out of the film because most Of the character interactions were just fluff, not to mention long periods of nothing happening on screen, for instance, long zooming in shots or too many aerials, looking straight down. It seemed to undermine the setting and atmosphere the creators desired. It was too opposing ideas that couldn't work together.

I will say this, all of the acting was superb, and the choice of actors and characters involved was unique.

As with a lot of shows or movies the ratings are all over the map. My wife and I like to watch a movie or series, usually from one of the streaming services each evening. One of the others reviews asked "why does this even exist". Well, it exists for someone who wants to watch something and be reasonably entertained.

We thought it was a decent watch, with good and familiar actors, great scenery, and yes predictable plot, and yes maybe ten minutes too long but we were not disappointed, it served its purpose.

If I could rate it 5.5 I would, which is exactly where its overall rating is right now. So, if your looking for something for your evening watch and dont expect something Oscar worthy this one will work.

After selecting this for movie night, my wife told me the IMDB rating of 5.5, so I read a few reviews before watching. We both decided to give it a try even after reading some of the low-star reviews.

Sure, there's a couple of parts that make you wonder about certain actions, but everything is there for a reason. I found it to be a good story with decent twists. Sometimes you just have to go with the story and not think that you can write better material; the story is the story, and that's that.

The acting was really good, especially Shailene Woodley, who really delivers at the end with a very believable reaction (which I won't spoil).

I'm glad we watched it, and both of us film fans can be very critical (I've also written scripts & directed a few of my own ideas, but I put that aside).