Chief of Station

Director Jesse V Johnson is better known for his collaboration with martial arts actor Scott Adkins in movies such as The Debt Collector.

In Chief of Station he goes for espionage but comes up short both in action and story.

Ben Malloy (Aaron Eckhart) is the CIA station chief whose world falls apart after his wife's death.

However Ben is drawn back into the shadowy world, after his former adversaries are killed. He learns that his son is in danger and discovers that he cannot trust anyone, even his former allies.

From very much the early scenes, you can guess who will turn against Ben Malloy. There is nothing here in terms of a good story.

That leaves the action scenes to do the heavy lifting. Unfortunately Eckhart is no Adkins. He is perfunctory with the action scenes but the script is not good enough for him to stretch his acting chops.

"Chief of Station," the latest attempt at espionage intrigue, is a forgettable cocktail of clichés and mediocrity, leaving audiences with a sour taste of disappointment. Aaron Eckhart, usually a reliable presence, struggles to breathe life into a tired script that feels like a rehash of every spy thriller you've ever seen.

The plot follows the predictable trajectory of a seasoned CIA operative (Eckhart) navigating the treacherous waters of international espionage, complete with double-crossings, femme fatales, and the obligatory ticking time bomb scenario. However, any semblance of tension or excitement is suffocated by the film's inability to break free from its formulaic shackles.

Despite its attempts to inject relevance with nods to contemporary geopolitical tensions, "Chief of Station" fails to offer any meaningful commentary or insight. Instead, it relies on tired tropes and shallow characterizations, reducing complex global issues to mere backdrop for its uninspired plot.

Even the action sequences, typically a saving grace for films of this genre, feel uninspired and lackluster. It's as if the filmmakers ticked off a checklist of obligatory set pieces without bothering to inject them with any genuine excitement or creativity.

In the end, "Chief of Station" is a forgettable addition to the spy thriller genre, offering little more than a rehash of tired clichés and missed opportunities. Save your time and money for something more deserving of your attention.

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And I only said that out of respect. Sometimes the film is so bad that it becomes good in a sort of back to front logic .... this here does not

It is thoroughly bad through and through the only saving grace and this has been mentioned in other comments is the fact that it moves around beautiful cities... Everything is spelt out for you as if anything more complicated than a comix For a six-year-old would make your brain misfire.

The fight scenes are so bad we wonder why anybody included them here; they make absolutely no sense they must have been choreographed by some canines at the pound Who could not find a home and had to been given a task to keep them occupied. It is an absolute shocker

And yet and yet if you can fully disengage your mind for an hour and a half and you really have nothing else to do and I mean absolutely nothing else to do you might get through it

A solid three for Budapest and other locations which might or might not be what they claim to be.

I love the actors in this movie but they did themselves a disservice in this movie. I find it hard to believe that the chief is station of Moscow could be so affected by his wife death six months later that he's resting his head on a fridge full of ham and unable to live normal life. Its a shame because the movie actually has potential if only they had given more depth to the characters and a little more sophistication to the story line, but unfortunately the plot lines are vague, the acting is erratic, more due to direction than skill. Thoroughly disappointing movie. Could have been so much better.

A big fan of Aaron Earhart and Olga Kurylenko but unfortunately neither one of these actors can save this low budget B film that is so poorly written that it quickly falls apart into a silly out of date silly script that's so predictable table and dull that not even the action scenes can make it feel entertaining. And Olga comes into the picture to save the day almost at the end which is too late and too little.

The directing is decent considering the script is terrible and if you remove Aaron and Olga this would be a terrible low budget B film.

Go in with super low expectations and ready for laughable moments where terrible accents make you cringe and the action fight scenes look like something from the 1970s completely outdated where guys have slug fests rather than shooting each other and all that was missing is Charles Bronson.

Looking forward to next action film from Aaron E and anything Okga K stars is - maybe with higher budget and better script

3 stars for 2 main stars and some great shots of Budapest.