Heart of Stone (2023)
a review by Evan Landon
I don't think I can begin a review of this movie without starting off with its protagonist portrayed by Gal Gadot to whom everyone has their own opinions on. We can get into that a little bit further into this review, but for the most part, I think it's important to put that caveat here where we separate the actress from the character and story she is meant portray. Unless you were expecting me to come right out of the gates slamming this movie later, let's start with the latter first.
Upon seeing the trailers for this straight to Netflix action adventure flick, it reminded me of such female kickass secret agent flicks as Atomic Blonde or Aeon Flux. I am also a big fan of earlier movies it reminded me of such as The Long Kiss Goodnight and Le Femme Nikita, but for my money those had a bit more character depth than the other two relying on storytelling as opposed to overwrought action sequences. Also, see my review on The Old Guard which carries a lot of the same style, but is more like a comic book than this one. Needless to say, we are not treading new grounds here.
That being said, it almost seems that this one delves a bit more into the secret agent part reminding me more of the James Bond or Mission: Impossible franchises which in turn makes it highly profitable if it turns a lot of heads.
To break down the plot, we are introduced to an MI6 team sent to infiltrate a group of exclusive elite fuckwads who are betting on a live-streamed U.S. Marines combat operation. The plan is to take the arms dealer involved in it and disappear into the night. Welp, as you would expect, the whole plan goes haywire & the entire group has to switch to Plan B, which also goes to complete shit, & the poor inept analyst has to drop her facade as a listless MI6 analyst & show the crew who she really is – THE Rachel Stone, THE 9 o' Hearts, who works for the super duper undercover group called “The Charter”. He ends up being an intel that gives up another intel until he gives up another until it just stops making any fucking sense.
But, hey, what kind of action movie were you expecting?
There are so many twists and turns in this bad girl to make your head spin, wondering which character is which, which one is alive, perhaps why should I give a fuck about any of these people, & it dawned on me – I don't. To be honest, it feels more like a three-part mini series that Netflix shrunk down into a movie that could have been done even shorter. I wouldn't say better, but shorter.
I won't say anything bad about Gal Gadot. I think she does some great things for the humanitarian corporations, resources, & building what she can for non-profit organizations with her money. I really do. That is all I am going to say about her & I do admire that part of her so much.
Heart of Stone, however, seems almost like a benchmark in today's cinema, but not for the reasons you would think; if going back to hyper-action nonsense against great storytelling, guess again. What this movie does is serve to the fans that they don't give a shit if it's a man or a female, a dog or a cat, a fig or a frog. They want entertainment, dammit, & if you do not give it – they will provide.
2.5 out of 5