The Doorman

I saw this only cos of the the director. I have enjoyed most of his films, Midnight Meat Train, Downrange, No One Lives, Versus n even the segment from Nightmare Cinema. Most of his films r very violent but this one is lame without any noteworthy action sequence. Ruby Rose aint convincing as the bad ass fighter. Jean Reno looked puffy n tired. The fight choreography aint done well n the film lacked the thrill factor. The screenplay is very similar to the recent Mel Gibson disaster Force of Nature.

The Doorman (2020) is fairly typical of low-budget direct-to-video made-in-Eastern-Europe fare. Production values are better than average for similar films. The actors do as well as can be expected with the material they're provided. But the screenplay is uninspired, with far too many coincidences, contrivances, and familiar tropes. The movie seems very similar to Force of Nature (2020), starring Mel Gibson, which also suffered from far too many coincidences.

Ruby Rose handles her fight scenes fairly well, but could have been replaced by a department store mannequin in some of the other scenes. Jean Reno delivers an effortless performance as the villain, which is nevertheless interesting to watch. Aksel Hennie, Rupert Evans, and Philip Whitchurch deliver credible performances. Some scenes drag; many are predictable. It's what might be termed a multi-tasking video, one that can be watched while doing something else without missing much.

So let me be clear this is not a cinematic masterpiece BUT I don't think it was written to be. It has decent fight scenes, keeps you guessing and is a ok use of time for an action movie, it definitely does not deserve the hate it's getting. I wouldn't pay new release money to watch it but for a small rent fee it was worth it..especially during Covid boredom and a rash of terrible terrible movies.

People could call this a cheap movie (by hollywood standards).. I'd say it has more of an indie-feel.. With sloppy camera work that makes a mess of action scenes, and boring interactions and dialogue. This is one of those that isn't worth watching for any reason. You won't learn anything, isn't fun to criticize, and will be forgotten the next day. The plot is as simple as it could be summarized in one line of text, and none of the characters are decent or memorable (not even the little girl who you are supposed to like).. with the exception of Jean Reno, maybe, who poses as a smart and calculating villain. He does a fine job, but for his resume, it is rather lacking.

I wouldn't recommend it, not even for the action. It's too average in every department.

Where Die Hard was funny, The Doorman is cringeworthy. Where Die Hard was visceral, The Doorman is pathetic. Where Die Hard has action, The Doorman has quick viewpoint change scenes to hide how ridiculous they are. Where Die Hard had an intelligent, pompous and scary villain, The Doorman has a stupid old Frenchman. Die Hard had a budget, The Doorman had an unused building. The acting is terrible, the plot is ridiculous, the characters are cardboard and still they couldn't get them right. How can anyone fail this much?

For crying out loud, there are five Die Hard movies there and the one you are trying to copy from was made in '88. You had 32 years to do it right! Ruby Rose was two years old when that movie came out! What more do you need?!

Bottom line: If at least they would have gender swapped it and copied the rest this would have been a good movie. No, they had to completely mess it up. Avoid this boring unsuccessful attempt at a movie.