From the stables that gave us Sherlock Holmes 3, Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody, comes the tale of two unlikely lovers who have to prevent deadly arms from getting into terrorists’ hands.
Initial release: 21 April 2023
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Story by: Rhett Reese; Paul Wernick
Distributed by: Apple TV+
Edited by: Chris Lebenzon; Jim May; Josh Schaeffer
Music by: Lorne Balfe
Cast: Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Lizzie Broadway, Adrien Brody, Dexter Fletcher, Sebastian Stan, Amy Sedaris, Anthony Mackie, Ryan Reynolds, Mustafa Shakir, Marisol Correa, John Cho, Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman
Summary
An impromptu first date leads a man halfway across the world after he thinks he has been ghosted by his new partner, leading to him being kidnapped and tortured on the assumption that he is The Taskmaster. He is rescued by the same partner who turns out to be a CIA agent, and the very same Taskmaster that he is presumed to be. The story details the travails they both go through in the quest to overcome terrorists and prevent dangerous weapons from falling into the wrong hands.
Story
Farmer boy ain’t so bad after all, huh?
I think the craziest part of the story was getting me to believe that a farm-raised kid could go toe-to-toe with trained agents and assassins and defeat them. Protagonist Power is a real thing in storytelling, isn’t it? Someone once said that comic book fans writing versus stories and comparing powers of different characters is always irrelevant because the winner, at the end of the day, is whoever the writer wants it to be.
That statement holds true in Ghosted. It’s incredibly fallacious.
Generally, this movie is pretty bland. When a 2 hour movie takes 3 days to watch, I normally tend to rate it a lot lower.I wasn’t captivated by the stakes, and this might be as a result of the culture of incredibly high stakes in the Hollyverse today. I mean if it’s not “the fate of the world” type serious, I’m not sure you can grab my attention. However, low stakes have been known to keep me captivated, I mean the entire story of Elemental was about a tiny, little shop. So that’s no excuse.
Also, our main antagonist pausing to focus on a woman and speak relationship matters of the heart, while his goal was literally within arm’s reach, kind of upset me. I know it was all for dramatic effect, but still… Way to prioritise, Leveque. You make us all proud.
This movie no try.
Costume and Setting
Sadie Rhodes gets top marks for wardrobe, but this is mainly cos I noticed she was wearing Toms in the beginning. Yeah. I know a stylish woman when I see one. You can’t fool me. Cole Turner was a visual delight in this movie though. And everyone involved look positively fresh. Leveque was also such an on-screen beauty, always looking sharp and pristine in his three-piece suits, and the scenes in the third act where they were having negotiations and shootouts in the restaurant that was constantly rotating. I kind of liked that view, a lot.
Otherwise, it’s a really basic spy movie. Nothing spell binding like the 007 series or Affleck’s The Accountant. I guess that’s why it doesn’t work. Cos everyone — even the highly trained agents — are normal, regular humans and we’re so used to seeing extraordinary people be spies on screen.
Cinematography
The scene in the first act with Sadie driving the colourful truck was rather enjoyable. Watching her go toe to toe with trained assassins in armoured trucks while driving her molue through the hills of Mingora, Pakistan, was quite entertaining.
Asides a few shots, like the rotating restaurant, the overall cinematography wasn’t mind-blowing. It is a lovely movie to watch but you’ll probably forget what the story was while the credits are rolling. Nothing I will recommend to the next generation, and that’s completely fine. Not every movie will be Shawshank Redemption.
Acting
I think the biggest acting feat in this movie was them convincing me that Captain America couldn’t run up a flight of stairs without using an inhaler. Chris acted his butt off in this movie, going from the brave, fearless hero we know, to the cowardly fearful farmer who gets cold feet at the sight of danger, and swallows rocks while awkwardly tumbling down hills.
I will say that his character seemed to show a lot of ‘growth’ in this movie, going from a man incapable of shooting another man, to being entirely comfortable with going on a date while having someone bound — hands and feet — in the trunk of his car.
Also, I loved seeing Bucky and Falcon in this movie. I low key expected the entire cast of Civil War to show up at some point. But by far the best cameo was seeing Ryan Reynolds show up out of nowhere. I could almost bet his lines were entirely improvised, but I absolutely loved them.
Rating
1D
★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Drab.
This movie was a money laundering scheme, as far as I’m concerned. Someone involved with the creation of this flick is being used as an avenue to smuggle drugs. I can’t explain it but I know my theory is accurate. How else can we interpret its creation? It didn’t need to exist. If you have contrary opinions, I’d like to hear them.
Was this movie enjoyable for you? Please let me know.
