Called to Duty

Here we have another in the long line of 'female empowerment' movies so popular with fashion-minded Hollywood these days.

Now, I think it is quite appropriate and desirable to showcase realistic female capabilities. However, I think it is getting to the point of fantasy and revisionism when we insist that 'women can do anything that men can do, but better' and try to prove that with manipulation, exaggeration and simple fiction.

So we have an example here of ALL the top air force pilots being women. Of course they are, dear. Another comical example we have is the recently released series Special Ops: Lioness, with the female protagonist physically outperforming navy seals. Of course she can, dear.

PS. I am a (realistic, I think) middle-aged woman.

At the end of this movie, they honour the WASP's (WW2 female aviators). I guess WASP was an acronym for the movie. Not since the Valley of the Sasquatch, have I seen such a bad movie but at least I laughed at how bad the Sasquatch costume was. The plot is far reaching, yes it reaches so low it would be difficult to go any lower. The acting was awful, the holes in the plot you could fly a plane through it and let's be honest there was nothing good about this movie.

Not sure what the early reviewers were watching but it was not this movie. Do not waste your time, do not think it gets better and do not pay for it. Even worse they left it open for a sequel - yippee!

This movie has a lower production value and worse acting than adult films.

It's possibly the worst movie I've seen in recent memory.

Every single aspect of film making was executed at a homemade level.

Even the lighting looked like it was rigged with house lamps and the color temperature reminded me of Sony Handycam's.

Terrible, absolutely horrendous acting. I'm not kidding, children in school plays often act better than this.

Worst story, character arcs, and screen writing that I think I've ever seen. No one who worked on this movie should be allowed back into movie production.

Movies like this don't deserve to be made. It was a waste of money and time, and it's an embarrassment on their careers.

I'd like you to picture the scene in Home Alone when the McAllister parents have realized that they've left their son at home. The cheapskate uncle says it. His inflection and intonation. That's how I say it.

It doesn't make anyone feel any better when they can't leave a positive review. Never before have I created an account on a website for the sole purpose of leaving a comment or a review. Ever.

Because of this movie, I have to break that 25-ish year streak of not falling into that trap. I don't like trashing movies, as they're collaborative projects, and who knows where the faults lie in what ends up being a "bad movie".

No details, no spoilers, no likes versus dislikes... suffice it to say that this movie is a project that should have been abandoned long before someone was able to cast it.

It should come as no surprise that I hadn't heard about this 2023 action movie titled "Called to Duty" prior to stumbling upon it by random chance. And with it being a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to sit down to watch it.

Initially, I figured that this movie was going to be a female-lead cash-in on the "Top Gun" movie success. And without having heard anything about the movie, I didn't really know what I was in for.

And I managed to endure a staggering 32 minutes of absolute boredom, cringeworthy dialogue, and rubbish storyline. Writer Bobby Hammel put together what can only be described as a dumpster fire attempt of a movie script for director Ashley L. Gibson to bring to the screen.

The character gallery in "Called to Duty" was every bit as cringeworthy and shallow as the dialogue, so at least those two things went hand in hand.

Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "Called to Duty". And after what I witnessed in the 32 minutes of mind-boggling boredom that I sat through, I can't say that I was impressed with the wooden, rigid and amateurish performances. The dialogue was delivered with the elegance and grace of a coal shovel in the hands of wooden marionettes.

Do yourself a favor and stay well clear of this airplane crash of a movie. It just simply isn't worth the time, money or effort.

My rating of "Called to Duty" lands on a one out of ten stars.