It pushes you to the edge with its stultifying low intelligence, plodding derivativeness and plain awfulness. Not a thought is spared on etching vivid, specific characterization, or detailing motivations. You wonder what made a titan like Ben Kingsley agree to sign up for this. Probably the check was irresistible. The writing is flat, characters shorn of layers, friendships and romance cursory and yet deep it gets tricky to reconcile the weight they gather with the impetuousness of their execution.
A hitman film like this can do with a dash of humour or goofiness. Joe Flood is an assassin terrific at his job. He can take down an army of men alone. He is fearless, savvy, and singularly ferocious, balking at nothing. When something is assigned to him, he sees the end of it. But can Bautista really offset a slew of clunky issues that populate the film? Everything about the film is a resolute mess.
The film opens with a mission at an opera house. Joe arrives to take down a patron. He is tasked to make it as bloodless as possible, just to take out the man. Joe gets the job done, along with several other casualties and raking up a whole deal of drama in the opera house. In the middle of it, he and a dancer, Maize Sofia Boutella lock a fleeting glance. It is the start of an easy gravitating from one to the other. He whisks away from the opera house but realizes he has got something of Maize inadvertently.
It is reason enough for him to meet her again. He goes to her dance class, hoping to return the thing to her but also to get to know her more. However, he is hesitant about his feelings. He barely has any private life, any outside making money and being on one mission after another. However, with Maize, it is different.
She, too, is charmed. The two fall headlong into love. The romance is immediate, sweeping Joe off his feet much to his own surprise and unexpectedness. How can this be possible?
