A married spy couple with a child tries to escape the difficulties of the job. All they want is a normal life: a dog, a house with a yard, and Sundays at the park. But of course, the past doesn’t let them. This could be the plot of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Family Plan or countless other movies. But in fact, it’s the story of the weak Shadow Force, opening this Thursday, the 10th.
Directed by Joe Carnahan (of the entertaining The Grey and Boss Level) and starring the talented Omar Sy and Kerry Washington, the movie feels like something straight out of the 2000s — and not in a good way. Once again, it’s that overused story of a spy couple who can’t (or won’t) leave the past behind. Here, specifically, they were part of an elite government squad that had two rules: never leave and never fall in love. Of course, they fall in love and run away from the group.
Shadow Force: a lifeless film from Joe Carnahan
Carnahan’s signature, as a director who emerged in the early 2000s with a good eye for action, might make us expect at least some decent sequences. But not even that. Over 104 seemingly endless minutes, the film dodges its responsibility to deliver solid action scenes. Early on, for example, Isaac, the fugitive spy played by Omar Sy, fights some bad guys in a bank. The filmmaker, maybe due to budget limits, chooses not to show the scene. He puts the camera on the ex-spy’s son and lets the sounds of punches do the work.
Kerry Washington, who shone in films like Django Unchained, is underused as a war machine — she shoots, kills everyone, but it’s never shown clearly. Everything feels overly artificial and distant, like an idea that never materializes.
Worse: the squad that gives the movie its title, the Shadow Force, had all the elements for great action scenes. The actors picked to play these “evil avengers” are dysfunctional but visually striking. Yet it’s shocking that Carnahan chooses not to include them in a single real action scene. One sequence with motorcycles replaces them with stunt doubles (helmets hiding their faces, of course), and in the longest sequence, they’re just sitting at a table. Seriously.
A dull world
It feels like there’s not even a real story in Shadow Force — just a recycled idea we’ve seen too many times. It’s a mid-budget action flick that would’ve gone straight to video in the past, then quietly landed on Netflix nowadays with moderate success — yet, for some reason, it ended up in theaters worldwide. It belongs on TV, not with a pricey ticket.
Honestly, there was no effort to make a good film. No real production value. The actors are wasted in wooden performances — and we know Omar Sy and Kerry Washington are skilled actors. Worse still, it promises an action film and delivers a lifeless, colorless, forgettable thriller. In a world where streaming is flooded with movies like this, how could anyone pay 20 bucks to see something this bland and lazy?
At least there are a few laughs thanks to the couple’s son, played by Jahleel Kamara. He’s a Lionel Richie fan and sings his songs with passion. But is that enough? Not even close. Shadow Force is a movie without heart. Weak, generic, forgettable. To paraphrase Richie, it’s a penny movie. And may it stay far, far away from me.
