Beckett

I liked the thrill and suspense of this film, but didn't like the unlikely and unconvincing plot.

I thought that the filming was incredible. Great shots and great edits. The story was the typical chase and crime thriller. Compared to other recent films, I thought this story had more depth to it than say Without Remorse. I enjoyed that the plot focused on the character rather than the detailed politics. It kept it more relatable. Really a pleasure to watch and just enough details to keep you interested. There was realistic violence versus the over the top.

What a nauseating beginning to what turns out to be a perfectly mediocre action movie. After going on for some 10 minutes, much more of the eponymous Beckett and his girlfriend's lovey-dovey, cutesy-wootsy foreplay, and I would've been ready to run their car off the road. These American vacationers (well, I guess Alicia Vikander is Swedish, but whatever) in Greece display some of the most irritating intimacy ever filmed, I swear--talking nonsense to each other, fondling each other while driving, drawing a heart on him--grown adults acting like horny teenagers.

Otherwise, and despite what the extra-T "Beckett" might conjure regarding more thoughtful fare involving a Thomas or a Samuel Becket, this "Beckett" is a good alternative for anyone who enjoyed watching John David Washington running around in "Tenet" (2020), but would rather not engage with a complicated narrative, or those who liked the conspiratorial intrigue of him in "BlacKkKlansman" (2018), but wished the politics of it were vague to the point of irrelevance. Communists and fascists, oh my. An old-fashioned American-savior narrative, but without the white guilt, an unwitting wrong-man mystery solved during panting breaks in between fighting and chasing. The scenery is nice, though, and, granted, a movie that begins by prophesizing the hero at the ruins of the Oracle of Delphi can't be all bad, although grand, Ancient Greek tragedy this isn't. Watch the "John Wick" shoot-'em-ups for that, seriously.

There's also the debatable appeal of Washington's hero not being without personal guilt and being mostly realistically human--limited by injuries, fatigue, panic attacks, an' all. Yet, he still ends up doing a Batman in a parking garage. If Washington keeps this up, Marvel or DC is going to cast him in one of their superhero burgers.

Beckett is an unusual Netflix original because it actually has an artistic quality to it. Its set in greece and really uses the greek culture and landscape to a point where you can feel it. The cinematography is so beautiful and so is the Sound design. The plot is gripping and you really will keep guessing how the hell this is happening to an ordinary man. I'd always been having trouble figuring out if Washington is an amazing or just a mediocre actor, but he makes his best performance yet, if you ask me. He is not your typical fit action hero, that knows how to fight bad guys and he is often more lucky than skilled plus he has a more realistic looking body than most of these type of movies.

UNFORTUNATELY this movie has some plot holes and loses momentum at the end, which is a bit of a shame. The mystery that gets unravelled is a bit meh, so I dropped my rating to a 6, but it deserves around 6.9. Anyway its a good suspenseful, beautiful and enjoyable little thriller!

(And as some reviews already said it, the person(s) responsible for the title should find another job, its a bit ridiculous naming this movie beckett)

The movie was ok but nothing special. On the plus side the Greek scenery at the beginning was beautiful and wild and reminded me of lord of the rings, the acting of most of the cast and especially Washington was really solid too. Now for the not so good. The plot was really weak and almost paper thin the main idea was great but the execution not so much. Another thing that bothered me as a person who lived in Athens for 6 years is that they made it look like a distopian third world country which was weird because Athens is a really beautiful City. I get that the movie is set in a distopian political alternate reality but they made Athens look like Baghdad or something. As a final verdict I think the movie is watchable but had potential to be much more if the writing was better.