fraser-simons

Way better than I expected. It's standard inspiration formula but more pertinent than most, these days. The only absurd part really was the last mission, which I have to believe they were aware of how Hollywood it was compared to how an actual SEAL team would behave engaged, and so decided to do the nauseating shaky cam zoom-in-zoom-out crap they do in CQC sequences where they can't actually perform the maneuvers.

Still, it's engaging, fun, pacy. Even the performances are less cheesy than I thought they'd be, save one or two moments.

It's difficult to rate this because while I think it has a lot of merits, and succeeds insofar as a thriller and other aspects - it's also at odds with itself. It explains trans in a better way that I'd expect for a film that came out in 1980, and even includes a small representation of an adjusted trans person-but then leans into mental illness heavily for a trans person, too. It's a bit baffling.

And it's honestly a bit of a shame because otherwise it has characters that are interesting and novel, and the plot, production, and performances are pretty good to great.

The first three built up the characters pretty well and the cases are interesting enough. It did falter with the finale, though. Both characters don't feel particularly good at their jobs, getting jumped by really basic baddies, the stakes feel unearned with the damsel in distress contrivance, and there's just no real emotional payoff. Especially for a finale.