CRIMINAL (2016)

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Ariel Vroman
Cast: Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Ryan Reynolds, Alice Eve, Gal Gadot, Jordi Mollà, Scott Adkins, Amaury Nolasco, Lara Decaro, Michael Pitt
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures 
Official Website: http://www.criminal.movie/

Opening Day: 21 April 2016

Synopsis: The story of the right man in the wrong body. In a last-ditch effort to stop a diabolical plot, a dead CIA operative’s memories, secrets, and skills are implanted into an unpredictable and dangerous death-row inmate in hopes the he will complete the operative’s mission.

Movie Review:

Sadly for Kevin Costner, ‘3 Days to Kill’ didn’t quite propel him into the league of born-again action heroes the way ‘Taken’ did for Liam Neeson back in 2008. His latest, ‘Criminal’, sees the 61-year-old actor of such notable hits of the early 90s as ‘Dances with Wolves’ and ‘The Bodyguard’ try to give his fellow sexagenarian yet another run for the money – though it is of no fault of his that this half-science fiction tale, half-espionage thriller won’t likely become the next ‘Taken’. Oh yes, Costner is surprisingly effective as a psycho who alternates between the amoral brain-damaged thug he is and the whip-smart CIA agent/ loving family man whose memories he has been implanted with, but he is just about the only thing that this standard-issue shoot-em-up has going for it.

Certainly, the premise, as intriguing as it sounds, isn’t new. Nicolas Cage and John Travolta already did a body-swap in John Woo’s ‘Face/Off’ two decades ago. Even Ryan Reynolds, playing the agent Bill Pope whose death precipitates the action here, has had the consciousness of an older Ben Kingsley transferred to him in last year’s similarly themed ‘Self/less’. That there isn’t anything particularly novel about their premise isn’t lost on its writers Douglas Cook & David Weisberg (who scripted Michael Bay’s ‘The Rock’ back in the day), which is probably why they only use it as much as to provide the juice for a fast-paced action movie that its Israeli-born director Ariel Vromen (best known for the critically acclaimed drama ‘The Iceman’) never quite feels confident enough to pause for plot or character.

By the time the first act is up, Bill’s memories would already have been transplanted by the neurosurgeon Dr Franks (an oddly cast Tommy Lee Jones) into the mind of Jericho Stewart (Costner), a prisoner described by his warden as ‘having no impulse control, no empathy’. The CIA station chief Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman) needs Jericho desperately to recall where Bill had kept a computer whiz codenamed ‘The Dutchman’ (Michael Pitt) hidden, in particular since the latter has hacked his way into the control of each and every weapon under the U.S. military’s Central Command. There’s really no need to bother why the only candidate considered for the procedure is a man locked up in solitary confinement in a high-security West Virginia penitentiary, but for those who care, it’s because a childhood injury has left him with a rare damaged frontal lobe.

Seeing how Jericho can’t quite recall what he needs, Quaker dismisses the operation as a failure and orders Jericho to be taken away and killed. But, as you may expect, Jericho soon escapes captivity; not only that, he begins to exhibit signs of Bill’s personality as he traverses the streets of London in search of Bill’s memories his mind is suddenly invaded with. In between beating up those who cross his path therefore, Jericho taps on Bill’s manners to place a breakfast order in perfect French. More significantly, Jericho pays a visit to the latter’s home to see the woman (Gal Gadot) and little girl (Lara Decaro) whose images have unleashed emotions and empathy in him that he is most unfamiliar with – but just so you know, Costner doesn’t hook up with the ‘Wonder Woman’ star half his age.

To keep the pace humming, Jericho finds himself running not just from the authorities – who realise that he is just coming into Bill’s senses – but also the Spanish anarchist Xavier Heimdahl (Jordi Molla) and his henchwoman (Antje Traue), who were the reason we do not get more of the ‘Deadpool’ actor here. Had Vromen been given the budget of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie of the 90s to whom he aspires this to be, we probably would have had the luxury of a lot more big-scale gunfights and explosions; but as it is, these are largely reserved for the concluding act, which sees the various factions – including some Russian agents, mind you – converge to retrieve Jericho as well as the Dutchman whose location he finally manages to uncover.

Frankly speaking, the action isn’t anything to shout about, unfolding with workmanlike efficiency devoid of any genuine thrill or excitement. It doesn’t help too that, aside from Jericho, there isn’t much to any of the other characters, such that Oldman’s CIA station chief is no more than a bellowing high-strung official in charge, Jones’ scientist remains inscrutable and Gadot never quite gets to communicate her grief or confusion. In fact, it is a wonder why any of these actors signed up for their roles in the first place, seeing how they can easily do better elsewhere. If there is one thing that keeps us watching throughout the two hours, it is Costner, who growls and scowls his way playing against type reconciling memories, mortalities and moralities. Costner’s always had a gruff charm to him, and that alone makes ‘Criminal’ enjoyable.

Yet, like we said at the start, it isn’t quite as enjoyably pulpy as ‘Taken’, which had a far less illogical plot and was far more emotionally engaging. As good as Costner is, ‘Criminal’s’ other flaws are quite apparent, and what starts out as a promising psychological premise soon becomes stretched to preposterousness. At least ‘The Rock’ had the sense to inject the proceedings with a diverting sense of humour, whereas everything is taken with utmost and almost tin-headed seriousness here.  For what it is worth, this is two hours of Costner and nothing more, which considering the talent on display – including Scott Adkins as a fellow CIA agent who shockingly never gets to fight – is probably criminal in itself. 

Movie Rating:

(Kevin Costner's grizzled, gruff yet eminently watchable performance as the morally challenged heart and soul of the movie is the only thing that redeems this derivative, preposterous thriller from being truly criminal)

Review by Gabriel Chong