Unlocked (2017)

What do you get when you take movie studios from the Czech Republic, Switzerland, United Kingdom & United States and have them unite in making a spy movie starring industry legends such as Michael Douglas and John Malkovich? You have Unlocked.Now what I just described to you should be a sign of something great, all that plus Noomi Rapace, Toni Collette and Orlando Bloom?! How could it possibly go wrong?Well it does, not horribly but pretty poorly all the same. Action, espionage, twists and turns and a whole lot of recycling from other films. James Bond this is not, in fact Johnny English it's not either!The film certainly has it's moments but considerably too few. It feels rushed, it doesn't utilize its great cast and nothing feels even remotely original.One for junkies for the genre.The Good:Malkovich and ColletteThe Bad:Could have used an additional 30 minutes at leastRecycledThings I Learnt From This Movie:After Daisy Diamond I simply can't see Noomi Rapace the same way!Toni Collette plays a badass really well

Entertaining several twists. Female lead is a bit of prodigy like the main character in "Covert Action". Some differences, i.e. is already in field, no mention of personal history on the main character, except that she is depressed by inability to stop a bombing in time, and how she came to be sourced by CIA. Character development could be better. More flashbacks, fleshing out would have been good for identifying with characters. Follow up (what outcome) on some of the supporting cast would be nice as well. I'd like to see this arrangement again though in sequel - think it could do well.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday MorningGovernment Agent Alice Racine (Noomi Rapace) is still haunted by a terrorist atrocity that occurred several years ago that she blames herself for. However, her mentor Eric Lasch (Michael Douglas) persuades her to return to active duty to deal with the case of a London Imam who is apparently using young couriers to rendezvous with others to commit terrorist acts. However, after a subject is apprehended, she is plunged into a nightmarish scenario, unable to tell friend from foe, along with mysterious former marine Jack Alcott (Orlando Bloom) who she first meets breaking into her home.This current affairs themed thriller was received in a lukewarmish way and disappeared from theatres pretty quickly in the UK. Seasoned director Michael Apted has assembled an all star cast, of varying new and old talent, in a suspense tale torn from today's headlines. As is the way, the older, more established talent, including John Malkovich and Toni Collette, are pushed to the side in favour of the younger talent, although even the still fairly fresh Bloom takes a good three quarters of an hour or so to make his appearance.It's an intricate tale, full of twists and turns, red herrings and double crosses, and on this front, Apted has done a good job. But while it's not unthrilling, it's just never as suspenseful or exciting as it wants to be, and can never claim to have you on the edge of your seat. By the end, it's gotten a little carried away with itself, and just become too convoluted to have any effect. By the end, everything's not become unlocked so much as mildly unscrambled.If you fancy putting your mind to good use, it's a fairly rewarding way to spend an hour and a half or so, but if you watch it more than once, you must have very strange tastes. ***

No rocket science, just good ol plain and simple riveting entertainment, loads of action and tension with good and convincing performances by Naomi Rapace, Orlando Bloom and Michael Douglas. I shall not elaborate on the plot or action to avoid spoiling it for you, watch it, you shall not be disappointed.