13. The 355; movie review

 

THE 355

Cert 12A

123 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat, infrequent strong language

Aren't spies meant to be in the shadows rather than turn heads?

There was a moment when Jessica Chastain, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong'o, Penélope Cruz, Bingbing Fan reminded me of the Spice Girls as they gathered in a limousine.

They looked sensational and flaunted it.

This probably summed up one of my key gripes with The 355 - the cast are all great actors and have raw beauty - the constant wardrobe and make-up improvements were both unnecessary and out of keeping with the film's storyline.

But, as I conceded after Mrs W pointed it out, this was a movie which was designed to entertain not to test our grey matter.

Simon Kinberg's film is a Chastain passion project. She produces it as well as starring as Mace, a CIA operative who has been tasked with buying a decryption program drive which could "cause World War 3" if it falls into the wrong hands.

Her mission, with  fellow agent (Sebastian Stan) goes pear-shaped and it becomes clear that a more concerted operation is needed.

Thus, Mace teams up with her British spy pal (Nyong'o), German rival (Kruger) and reluctant Colombian (Cruz).

The stereotypical mystery villain who wants the program drive to cause mayhem is played by Jason Flemyng. His motives are opaque.

The 355 is a Bourne-esque movie with a group of kick-ass women at the helm.

There are slices of humour as well as lots of chase and fight sequences and a substantial body count.

And there are some quite shocking moments (one made us gasp).

On the downside for me, The 355 is not believable. But if you want to suspend reality, this may well be for you.

After all, sometimes, the brain needs a rest. 

Reasons to watch: Plenty of action

Reasons to avoid: The storyline is pretty loose

Laughs: Two

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Did you know? Agent 355 was the code name of a female spy during the American Revolution, part of the Culper Ring. Agent 355 was one of the first spies for the United States but her real identity is unknown.

The final word. Simon Kinberg: "I loved the idea of a female-ensemble spy movie. There's not a lot of female spy movies but there are even fewer ensemble spy movies. When you think about it, really there's only Ronin in our modern times. Usually, you have a single spy like Bond or Bourne or King's Man, or any that you can think of." CBR.com

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