One coup attempt later, Pettits, Wellington and Venegas are on the run through the jungle.
Can Pettits get his client home?
Can John Cena be an action star?
The Marine was a bit meh, but Cena always seems a little goofy.
There is something about the way he looks, his proportions and the way he moves, that feels more comically overwrought than intimidating.
Freelance seems to recognise this element of Cena’s screen persona.
Whether it knows how to execute this element is a different story.
If it is an action comedy, it’s not that funny.
If it is an action movie, it is a little light on the action.
I spent the movie wondering if this was a comedy which had been retrofitted to be more of an action drama, or vice-versa.
The spine of the movie is kind of strong. I would not be surprised if the script reads well.
But there is something off about the movie, a shaky grasp of tone that makes it hard to get locked in.
The most interesting aspects of the movie is the lead character, who feels like a comment on Cena himself, and the movie’s progressive message.
The film’s take on the global south, and the use of military power to exploit the resources of countries in South America (and by implication, other regions around the world) is surprisingly enlightened for a movie about a steroidal muscle man killing bad guys.
This is not a subtle movie but it is interesting to see a straightforward programmer with this point of view.
Cena’s character is established as a Type A personality who cannot reconcile himself to an ordinary life with his family after his military career ended.
The reason he takes the bodyguard job is because he needs excitement in his life. His wife point blank asks him if he ever thinks how she feels being treated like his punishment for losing his exciting life.
To its credit, while Alice Eve’s wife is not in the movie that much, she is not the butt of any jokes, and she is never treated as a buzzkill.
The movie ends with Cena realising he does not miss his old life and wants to get back home.
Cena and Brie are good - she does not get to be as funny as she can be - but the real star of the movie is Juan Pablo Raba as the dictator.
He seems to know exactly what movie he is in, and the movie gains an energy, weirdness and near-satiric sensibility.
As he waxes about his role in exploiting his nation, and espouses the philosophy and strategies that have kept him in power, the movie is almost great.
New Zealand actor Martin Czokas - the greatest actor to never be a Bond villain - is solid as the scummy South African mercenary on our heroes’ tale. His characterisation feels like a throwback to the action comedies of the eighties, when the villains would be treated totally straight as genuine threats.
The movie has a decent story and great elements, but something about it never quite comes together. It feels like it should be funnier and more exciting than it is.
I want to recommend Freelance just because there is almost nothing like it in theatres. I just wish it was the best version of what it wants to be.
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