A decent, but pretty forgettable action/spy flick. It's hard for me to believe that Tate Taylor directed this, but considering his last couple of films have been so mediocre as well I guess it's not a huge stretch. It feels like The Help came out forever go, but that is still easily his best film. This has such a good cast too, but they are mostly squandered even though it is cool seeing Jessica Chastain kicks plenty of ass and Farrell looked like he was having a lot of fun chewing the scenery.

C+

Jessica Chastain does really well but her efforts are wasted in a generic misfire of spy movie. In smaller roles Farrell and Malkovich do really well. There is just not good enough material here and Tate Taylor does not know how to handle these topics. The production values are great and action scenes are choreographed really well. The end fight is also very disappointing.

I wanted a sleek and sexy Jessica Chastain action thriller and I got just that. If you keep your expectations right there then its a good time. Some better writing and direction would be needed to elevate it beyond that.

I can see why the role appealed to her though. The trend for female assassins in recent years is to make them almost childlike, adorable people who murder as a side hustle (Vilanelle, Anna, etc...) Ava is definitely not that, she is very aware of what she is doing and the whole plot stems from the consequences of her trying to find higher meaning in that. Her familial troubles give Chastain something to chew on between the bullets, even if they aren't that interesting for the audience. Colin Farrell finally shows up and makes things a lot more fun though. I loved his reaction as when he realizes that she is still following him at the end. "I've made a huge mistake."

So yeah, going back to the top, it's a solid picture if you want some Chastainiac action. B/B-

I've not seen more than 20 films yet this year, but this is the worst mainstream one I've seen yet. It's not really Chastain's fault, at least not in front of the camera, but she apparently produced this and it's just bland, its R rating is useless, no grittiness or violence in this to warrant it in any way. The script is just terrible, generic and all over the place with, she's human but also a stone blooded killer and just doesn't know which way to lean, "I felt worse cheating on my sister than any of the 41 kills", ugh. Farrell and Malkovich have decent roles, but the film is just bad, hard pass.

D

I thought it was passable. It's a solid rainy day watch, doesn't deliver anything new but the performances are decent and it's somewhat entertaining for what it is. B-