Rent The 355 (2020)

Much more impressive than the marketing suggests - The 355 review by BG

Theresa Rebeck and Simon Kinberg's script for 'The 355' manages to substantially exceed expectations in a film that was somewhat lazily marketed as 'the all-female spy movie'. The skillful writing does give us some broad-strokes cliches at first; Mace (Jessica Chastain) is a hard-pushing and overly serious go-getter with no personal life, Marie (Diane Kruger) is the attitude-filled rebel with a daddy-issues chip on her shoulder, Graziela (Penelope Cruz) is the scared psychologist who must find her courage to join the fight, and Khadija (Lupita Nyong'o) is the techie who doesn't want to go back to the field after a bad mission.

Originally presenting the central thread of a stolen threat at large in terrorist hands, the scripts weaves the actresses in as unrelated strands, but rapidly brings them together as a team when they realise the odds stacked against them.

The dialogue is peppery and fun, with snappy zingers flying back and forth on a regular basis, and the women always feel like individuals, played with great skill and consistency by the leads, even as the characters change with experience, bringing layers of emotion, intensity, buried anger and determination that all feel authentic. Diane Kruger especially is standout as a fiery and excitingly edgy character. The poster-advertised presence of Bingbing Fan is best left undiscussed to avoid some minor spoilers, and while she's fun, and very good in the blazing finale, her acting doesn't ever feel quite as brilliant as the cast around her.

Sebastian Stan is very good as Mace's fellow agent 'Nick', and Jason Flemyng brings a sinister gravitas to his role as a shady criminal facilitator.

If anything, some of the male characters feel rather thin when stood against the excellent performances and writing of the female leads (fair enough after decades of underwritten women in movies!) but it doesn't matter too much as the script remains pacy and compelling at all times.

The writing reminds us that these are people with lives and relationships, all of which they're putting at risk - or on hold - to go out and risk themselves for the greater good. And there's a lot of risk involved, from minor career fracas to multiple brilliantly executed set-pieces.

A dockside shoot-out early in the film lays out the movie's action credentials nicely, but a multi-layered pursuit through an African market and a brilliantly exciting climactic sequence really show Kinberg's evolving action chops - all of the action is crisply visualised, beautifully conveyed, flashily filmed and pulse-raisingly kinetic.

The film also has a nice camaraderie between the women which is often missing from macho male action films, but still has real stakes and isn't afraid to raise the game when tension's required.

There are a very small handful of moments when the script's a little overly on-the-nose about gender politics issues at the end, when it's already made its point far more successfully with just how brilliant these agents are at their jobs, but it's only a slight clumsiness in an otherwise rousing movie that deserves to act as a massive wake-up call to Hollywood about how thrilling female-led action movies can be - as if more proof was needed after 'Aliens', 'Salt', 'Lucy', The 'Resident Evil' franchise and 'The Long Kiss Goodnight'.

I seriously hope this makes enough back to justify a second film, as I'm very eager to see where they take the characters next.

Daft and dull action movie - The 355 review by Alphaville

The McGuffin that everyone’s after in this female-led action movie is a device that can access any computer system. Apparently it will be the end if the world as we know it unless our international posse of heroines can get hold of it. The result? Daft and surprisingly dull.

There are too many characters, good and bad, to care about any of them, so all the banter they share falls flat. That leaves the action, which is too often ruined by shaky-cam and over-editing. Consequently the exotic locations look under-used.

The actresses do their best with the ropey dialogue and the running around shooting, but it’s all a bit silly. About three-quarters of the way through there’s one unexpectedly dramatic scene that highlights what the rest of the film is missing (you’re sure to spot it). The main set-piece is an overlong action-light talkathon set in an auction house. The climactic shootout is equally meh. As usual in such films, our heroines are the only ones who can shoot straight.

Average in every way but... - The 355 review by AER

...it was still enjoyable. The plot has been done a million times before so there's no real reason for this female-led riff on Mission Impossible or The Bourne Identity... The action sequences are good but this film belongs in the early 2000s. It never aspires to be anything more than an expensive in-flight movie.

4 out of 10