Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Movie review: Destroyer

 
 Sixteen years after a failed undercover operation in which her cover was blown, Det. Erin Bell has a chance to finish the case when the escaped mastermind resurfaces.

Nicole Kidman (Erin), Toby Kebbell (Silas), Tatiana Maslany (Petra), Sebastian Stan (Chris), Scoot McNairy (Ethan), Bradley Whitford (DiFranco), Shamier Anderson (Antonio), Zach Villa (Arturo). Beau Knapp (Jay).

Destroyer is a bit confusing from the start when the film seems to jump right to the storyline. Character introductions are weak and the only real backstory we get are flashbacks to the undercover operation years ago in which Erin's cover was blown. We never even fully understand her apparent terminal illness. Instead we found ourselves watching in hopes the two hour runtime would reveal more depth and cohesion that never materialized.

Acting from Kidman was both good and bad. Her physical transformation was amazing and her delivery good but, there were more than a few scenes where she felt out of place or overacted. Kebbell was interesting but felt somewhat one-dimensional. Most of the remainder of the cast were decent though direction seemed to hurt delivery.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds are decent with a solid feel. Action scenes were pretty good with a strong impact. Dialogue was mediocre at best, leaving a lot to be desired in terms of depth and plot movement. Sound and soundtrack are okay.

Destroyer ended up being a disappointment for us. The film never developed good energy and felt like it struggled to even move forward at times. And while Kidman put a lot of energy into her performance she couldn’t overcome the darkness of the story and direction. Those who enjoy messy crime dramas should enjoy this one. Anyone else should probably reconsider.

With some fairly explicit sexuality, violence, gore, and plenty of foul language, save this one for the oldest teens and above.

Released: 2018
Reviewed: 6.10.19
Star rating: 2 out of 5
Genre: Crime, Drama, Action, Thriller, Indie Crime Thriller

copyright ©2019 Dave Riedel

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