Movies…with a little bit of obscure culture and sports mixed in
“An intelligence operative for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency races to stop a hacker from stealing its most valuable and dangerous weapon.” Director: Tom HarperWriters: Greg Rucka, Allison SchroederStaring: Gal […]
“An intelligence operative for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency races to stop a hacker from stealing its most valuable and dangerous weapon.”
Director: Tom Harper
Writers: Greg Rucka, Allison Schroeder
Staring: Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, Alia Bhatt, Jing Lusi, Matthias Schweighöfer
Release Date: August 11, 2023
IMDB
So, we are still trying to make Gal Gadot an action star? Heart Of Stone (2023) is the latest Netflix action romp that fails to deliver the goods. There was a chance with this one, for I will admit that the first 20 minutes are pretty solid and the concept as a whole isn’t terrible at face value. Unfortunately, but predictably, Heart Of Stone becomes just like any other Netflix chip off the old block.
Rachel Stone (Gal Gadot) is a secret agent working for a secret organization called The Charter. This non-government agency inserts itself wherever necessary to ensure that the logical thing is done and that humanity is not tossed on the curb in exchange for someone’s personal gain. Stone is embedded in M16 and her mission is fairly straightforward until a betrayal sends her, and The Charter, on a life-or-death adventure.
The Charter is divided into four suits, and within each suit there is a hierarchy setup like a deck of cards. Everyone has a code name, and Stone’s is the Nine of Hearts. She works heavily with the Jack of Hearts (Matthias Schweighöfer) and his incredibly fancy piece of technology. Turns out this bit of tech is the most powerful thing in the world, and whomever has it can control nearly anything you can imagine. Sounds like a good McGuffin for the bad guys!
This is where Heart Of Stone really fucks up. Before we get to the CGI fest and rather terrible storyline, we have to address how this movie fumbled a fantastic bag.
Spoilers ahead for those who care to watch Heart Of Stone.
The fact that this movie reveals the four kings, gives us insight into each suit, and then effectively destroys this framework all in one movie is such a waste. Why did Greg Ruck and Allison Schroeder choose to write all of that into this one movie? I know that sequels are not automatic, but hell, give the audience a tease or something. It is an easy concept to understand, the fact that there are four major secret spy agencies across the world. Why did we need to see them all? Have the villains of this movie focused solely on the Heart group, and then tease out a bigger world.
Heart Of Stone not only reveals the leadership quartet, but also destroys it all by killing three of the Kings, essentially wiping out three entire suits. Sorry Diamonds, Spades and Clubs. We barely got to know you. And the motivation for the bad guys in this story is directly linked to certain characters not within the Heart group, which means we need to care about them because they are in danger? Sorry, we barely know you King of Clubs. Not shedding a tear for you.
Nor am I shedding a tear for Gadot who just keeps getting bags of cash to be the lead in action movies where she has no gravitas to carry the entire movie. We can just look at the start of Heart Of Stone. It is a team up mission with Stone part of MI6. We see a team communicating over radio, dealing with pesky security guards and discovering details about bad guys before a gunfight in the snow ends it. It is a team-up movie at the start of Heart Of Stone, but once the plot twist happens then it is a Rachel Stone solo operation and the entertainment value doesn’t stick.
To be fair, the movie doesn’t do itself any favors. Stone at the start is like James Bond; just very resourceful and incredibly competent at surviving seemingly impossible situations. When Stone begins flying out airplanes in a jet suit, fighting in a zeppelin, then parachuting again out of the zeppelin after jumping and grabbing onto a robe with no safety net beneath here…well you lost me a bit. We went from some grounded espionage action (to an extent) to full Mission Impossible level craziness without the proper budget, stakes or charm. It is at this point where Heart Of Stone lost me, and its decision to destroy its own world building sealed the deal.
Gal Gadot is one of the most noticeable faces in Hollywood, yet her track record for quality films is lacking. It isn’t the first time I have touched on this, but Gadot needs a win. Can she do anything besides action movies? She has two attempts to break out of that genre since her Wonder Woman glow-up; a voice part in Ralph Breaks The Internet (2018), and then Keneth Brannagh’s Death On The Nile (2022). I don’t remember her at all in the Wreck-It Ralph (2012) sequel, but she was by far the low point of Death On The Nile. Her toasting with the champagne on the boat was ridiculed from the trailer’s debut.
Wonder Woman (2017) put her on the map, and I can’t deny that I enjoyed the first two thirds of that movie quite a bit. But her appearances as Wonder Women over the subsequent DC movies have been nothing but supporting, or uncredited roles. And do we need to talk about Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)? Red Notice (2021) also wasn’t very good, but again not necessarily her fault, but still her name is attached to non-rewatchable projects.
Can she have a course correction? I would like it if she did, but the more time passes, the less likely that becomes.
Heart of Stone is another misstep by Gadot, and by Netflix. It is great background noise if you want to look up at some action sequences, but otherwise it is another skippable action adventure.
STANKO RATING: D
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