Rating: C-
Dir: Paul Feig
Star: Awkwafina, John Cena, Simu Liu, Ayden Mayeri
I keep watching Paul Feig movies in the hopes of getting something matching the glories of Spy. That was now close to a decade ago. I should probably move on, and accept it’s not going to happen. This is another case of a high concept Feig flick with appeal, luring the viewer in. Then you get to the end, and are left with a vague sense of disappointment, and wondering how it went a bit wrong. It’s like the difference between a commercial for fast food, and the actual product served by the restaurant. Here, the hook is a dystopian version of a state lottery, where if you kill the winner before sundown, you get their winnings.
The latest $3.6 billion jackpot has gone, due to a chain of events, to the oblivious Katie (Awkwafina), who has returned to Hollywood seeking to rekindle her acting career. She has no clue of the threat she faces, until people start trying to collect – though since one of the stipulations is no guns are allowed (how un-American!), she is able to survive the initial assault. She’s then rescued by Noel (Cena), a noble bodyguard for hire. He’s willing to protect her for a small share of her windfall, though the money feels secondary to him. However, the mob eventually proves too much and Noel has to call for backup, in the well-polished, yet somewhat suspicious, shape of his former merc buddy Louis (Liu).
Peering into the cardboard box at this underwhelming all-beef patty on its sesame seed bun, you wonder how it ended up so… mediocre. The leads are decent, Cena in particular showing a dry sense of humour and willingness to parody himself. But for an R-rated movie, the action in particular seems weak, with the doubling of Awkwafina rarely less than obvious. It’s all tending heavily towards the cartoonish. And not even a good cartoon: Noel is a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, about the level on which this operates. The humour is largely basic too, e.g. Katie telling Noel, “You look like a bulldog that a witch cast a spell on, and turned into a human against his will.” I mean, she’s not wrong. Yet is this comedy?
It seems a bit at odds with the overall premise. The more you think about it, the darker it gets, yet the film prefers to look the other way. It’s probably too busy with the pretzel-like manoeuvring necessary to the plot. I will say, it keeps moving forward, and providing you aren’t expecting too much, just about skates past as entertainment – largely on the charisma of the leads. I can’t complain about the technical level of the production either, and want to single out the stunt team for particular praise. They were certainly kept busy. Still, it’s the kind of film where I find myself rushing to get a review written immediately after viewing. For I suspect I won’t remember much about it by tomorrow morning.