Pros: Not a bad acting duo; a few interesting points Cons: The film reveals all its cards too early; some stereotyped characters; languid tempo Point Blank / “Point Blank”
Genre Action
Directed by Joe Lynch
Cast: Anthony Mackie (Paul Booker), Frank Grillo (Abe Guevara), Marcia Gay Harden (Lt. Regina Lewis), Christian Cooke (Mateo Guevara), Teyonah Parris (Taryn), Boris MacGyver (Masterson), Marquis Moore (Big D) and etc.
Gaumont Film Company Studios, Netflix
Year of release 2019
IMDb website
The success of inexpensive, average-quality films on Netflix and other streaming services is primarily due to a completely different model of content consumption than in cinemas. If in order to go to the cinema, the user needs to make a conscious choice, leave the house, pay for tickets, then in the case of Netflix, marketing algorithms will make the choice for you. You don’t need to go somewhere, pay money (the subscription is paid automatically and you simply forget about this monthly expense over time), make any unnecessary movements – Netflix itself will slip you a new product in the genres that you are interested in (watched earlier). And if on the catchy cover there is a face that has become familiar in other films… And so you yourself didn’t notice how you were watching the proposed film. Even if in the end it turns out not to be a masterpiece, you are unlikely to regret the lost time, because you would have spent it on some nonsense anyway. Actually, as a simple action movie for one evening, Point Blank has every right to exist.
The film tells the story of nurse Paul Booker (Anthony Mackie) and criminal Abe Guevara (Frank Grillo), who drags Paul into a complex game involving corrupt cops. The lives of the health worker’s pregnant wife and unborn child are at risk, so he is forced to comply with the bandit’s demands. However, in the end, everything turns out to be not as clear as it seemed at first glance, and Paul will be forced to take up arms to protect himself and his family. Point Blank is a Hollywood remake of the 2010 French film of the same name. To be honest, I still don’t understand the need for such clones very well, but if someone makes films, then someone needs it (but this is not accurate).
Mackie and Grillo have previously worked together in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame, playing the roles of Falcon and Crossbones, respectively. So the condition with familiar faces is fulfilled here 100% – Marvel made an excellent advertisement even for supporting actors. Well, the actors made a pretty decent duet; we can say that the film rests on the interaction of the nervous and insecure Paul and the crazy Abe. Plus, a certain amount of humor is brought in by rapper Markis Kesan Moore, who plays the B-movie gangster Big D.
Perhaps one of the main problems with Point Blank is that the writers reveal all their cards too early. If they had delayed the main intrigue a little longer, you see, some kind of tension and dynamics would have appeared in the picture, which it clearly lacks. There are very few action scenes and they are not particularly inventive. The villains and heroes are easy to figure out, and the characters are too formulaic. So some intrigue wouldn’t hurt.
However, I repeat, as an action movie for one evening, just to keep yourself busy, Point Blank is quite suitable. It is interesting that in the last frames of the film the authors laid the groundwork for the sequel. Why not? Such films are much more profitable for streaming services than expensive AAA blockbusters, which may not work. Netflix and its competitors are now competing in quantity rather than quality, and the fact that we get great movies and TV series from time to time is more a miracle than a rule.
Conclusion:
A one-shot B action movie. You can watch, but you can not watch
