Freelance (2023)
Retirement didn’t suit him
Another week, another slew of trailers. Another slew of trailers, another victor. On this fine night the winner looks to be one part comedy , one part action so we’ve got plenty of promise based on trailer alone. Oh yeah, and that guy nobody can see is in there to - yeah, you know, that Cena fella! Second guess your life choices, it’s time to go Freelance.
A man tries to find his place by joining the military, and finds his home within special forces. It’s all going great until his chopper gets shot down, and his squad and friends taken out with it - now he’s suffering the life of a lawyer. He’s unhappy, and it’s reflecting his home life as well - until an offer comes from one of his surviving squad buddies who has gotten into the private sector. For an easy cake walk of a mission that has him protecting a journalist while she goes to interview a dictator, he could make some good bank and reclaim some of the passion in his life. Off he goes, to the same place where his helicopter was once shot down to keep some lady whose a bit on the rude side safe from whatever happens, and boy does whatever happen.
The characters here got a surprising amount of play to them. Each one has what feels like a different view by the end of the movie, so even if they themselves don’t really change at all as a character, it feels like we have a different look at them. As an example of this, our lead lady comes off a bit as a jerk in the starting scenes, but by the end she seems a bit less insufferable. I don’t know if it’s necessarily that the character itself has advanced from the start, their goals are still the same, but our perception of them shifts. The main character gets the most in terms of advancement, finding fulfillment and maybe some closure by the end of it. Not a whole ton to complain about in here really, although I guess you could say some of if not all the bad guys are kind of whatever for the most part - is it really that much of a problem? Not really.
The actors are doing a good job here for better or worse. I say this lovingly, because I enjoyed everything in here - but if a character is meant to be annoying, or painfully happy they will be. The actor is nailing what they are supposed to, even if we don’t realize it at first. Of course, our main gets to have the widest range of his character advancing, but by far the one everyone probably will enjoy the dictator the most - he’s entertaining as heck and always cheerful. Yes, the words corny and cheesy might come about quite a bit, but if you like having some fun it’s all good.
Soul sucking lawyer action
As far as the scenery goes, there’s plenty to see here. We’ve got a nudity joke in there that I could also tie into as a joke to the scenery parts - because you know, we got a bunch of good looking folks showing off in family-friendly skin displays (you know, all the specific naughty bits are covered up). The actual locations also look great, both fitting but also fun to see as far as colors and shrubberies. It also has a surprising amount of spots in there in the final location, which surprised me a little bit. The costumes are largely what you’d expect out of a modern setting - dressy clothes, some military stuffs, nothing too outlandish. It all works for what it is trying to sell, albeit for the most part nothing ever really stands out too much. Still, I appreciate that it has that bit of color and vivid tones that you would want to see out of one of those romance/adventure combos from back in the day to keep it from just feeling too samey.
As far as the action goes, it’s pretty solid. Yes, it might be a bit “real-lite” for folks who want some kind of super crazy attention to detail - and if you watch it with one of those types I’m sure you can expect plenty of moments of them calling shenanigans on various moments. For the folks around to have fun though, you breeze right by it for what it is - action and entertainment. Explosions, some blood here and there - but nothing too graphic - and plenty of bullets. All being told though, it’s not all action and there is plenty of other moments to build out plot or characters. Yes, admittedly some of the effects are definitely effects shots - I’m looking at you, horseback scene - but for the most part it all looks passable enough that you would never questions anything being out of place unless you have a better eye for detail or aren’t having as much fun as I was watching it I suppose.
Audio was there, and there’s a lot of it that’s pretty silly. Balance wise everything is solid, but if you don’t get “silly whimsical” out of some of the song selection then we must be wired different. That being said, typical me causes none of it to retain past the movie despite it doing its job as support and fill to help convey things going on in the movie and enhance the package. Also possibly shocking to some folks, this thing has a bunch it can talk about to the thoughtful types. You’ve got things like life and satisfaction and finding ones happy role in it, you’ve got some bits about revenge, you’ve got a whole bunch about political stuff, and there’s always that being content angle. There is a lot more to it than I thought I was going to get out off something that sounded in pitch to be “wacky action movie hi-jinx.” It did still deliver on the fun though, so just because you can think doesn’t mean you have to fully engage in the commentary to enjoy.
That guy in the background steals this movie.
This was a good choice to watch tonight. It had action, it had humor, and overall it ended up just being a good time. Although I admit the flick can come off a bit corny at times, especially with it’s absolutely wacky dictator character, it really just adds more charm to the runtime in my opinion. It has plenty of twists and turns to keep you trying to figure out just what exactly is going on, but overall it doesn’t feel like it ever get’s too bogged down in it’s serious moments to let you have fun with the nonsense that’s directly surrounding it. The watch party and I had a good time, so if you’re in the market for some action comedy fun, this might be a good pick - it’s even free on Hulu at the time of me writing this, so bonus points if you already have that service!