Criminal

Criminal has been slated in most reviews I've read, so I went into this film expecting very little from it. However, the film is actually considerably better than these reviews suggest and has some clever ideas running through it. It's all about the memories of Bill Pope, played by Ryan Reynolds, being transferred into Jericho Stewart, played by Kevin Costner. Both actors do well with what they are given, and Costner is particularly impressive when he has to deal with his own thoughts and Pope's as well. This memory transplant is done so a task can be completed, and you'll understand why if you watch the film. The start of the film is very intense and really pulls in your interest, with a selection of plots being introduced and I felt they all connected quite nicely at the end. The script is a bit lacklustre and uses swearing for effect rather than proper character development, although this isn't totally lacking, as Stewart tries to connect with Pope's family, which develops the story and characters quite nicely.

The action sequences provide nothing new or inventive to the genre, but they are well done and they always feel like a payoff for decent storytelling. The primary issue I had with Criminal is the middle section, which becomes very lacklustre and slow, and to be honest is a bit boring. I know most films slow down at some stage, but this one lost my interest a bit, which is never a good sign. We get to see a lot of Gel Gadot here, and she plays a good part and acts well alongside Costner. However the film picks up again with a pretty good final third, although again, nothing new is shown and the action is slightly generic. The film ends well, and the clever principles of this film are not lost through the seen it all before action scenes.

So overall, Criminal is film with clever ideas but has generic action sequences which does not merit these ideas, despite the action being entertaining. The acting is good, but the script is lacklustre and the middle section is slow. Criminal is worth a watch, but it won't win any awards despite it being a decent crack at the action film genre.

This film has been saved by its stars: Ryan Reynolds first and Kevin Costner few minutes later will make you forget most of plot's unbelievable logical holes, awful editing (what's Alice Eve's end?), repetitive scenes and complete lack of bad guy's motive (Jordi Mollà).

And Tommy Lee Jones, Gal Gadot, Gary Oldman and Michael Pitt (Alice Eve here is little more than an extra) strive to fill with workmanship and dignity their otherwise gaunt supporting roles.

They all succeed in saving the day and in the end you won't fall asleep or leave theater in contempt. But on your way home you could probably comment that this is one of the most useless (or unconvincing) films you ever watched.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Criminal" (2016) is kinda "been there saw that" type of flick - nothing original, nothing super exciting, but as a one evening guilty pleasure it does it's job, at least partly.

The cast is superb, and everyone did their OK jobs for the material, except for Tommy Lee Jones - this is "you got to be kidding me" type of performance - he goes with one facial expression during whole flick, expression that says "what am i doing here? what is this thing?".

Overall, nice execution and OK story with some fun acting makes this flick work for one boring evening. There is even some descent music in it, the one in the van and the one at very end - closing song was great.

I decided to buy a matinée ticket on a rainy day for this movie based on its terrific cast, and I wasn't disappointed. Yes, it feels like a cousin of Face/Off. Yes, there are tremendous conveniences in the story. Yes, it is predictable. However, if you like the cast and if you like action movies with some surprises then it is worth seeing. Costner brings his star power to the role of Jericho, a man with no social skills due to his underdeveloped frontal lobes, which were damaged as a child (in a touching story). Therefore it's fun to watch him steal a vehicle right in front of people, walk to the front of lines and punch people just because he can. I was happy to see Gal Gadot in a bigger role than I expected. And I spent most of the movie trying to figure out who one of the villains was, as I recognized her from another role but couldn't place it. She is very distinctive (and very beautiful), and at the end I realized it was Antje Traue, the East German actress who played a super villain in 2013's Man of Steel. Overall, the movie is good enough for a entertaining matinée at the movies.

This film is a perfect example of why movie critics are completely irrelevant. Solid acting, well paced, an interesting story (while somwhat implausible) with relatable character dynamics, and of course Costner is great ... so why the Metacritic score of 36? WTF? It's at the point where I'll take the User opinions over the critics every damn time, because clearly there's some underlying bias that comes with being a professional critic of something as subjective as filmmaking. Is it Costner? Is that it? Because they roundly hated "3000 Miles To Graceland" too, another fun movie which may not be Oscar worthy, but nevertheless. And there are definitely some Costner duds out there (Waterworld, The Postman), but I can tell you this, I would watch "Criminal" 100 times before I'd ever force myself to watch "Nomadland" again!