• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • FAQ
  • Meet the Team
  • About The London Economic
  • Advertise
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
NEWSLETTER
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Film

Unlocked: Film Review

Wyndham Hacket Pain @WyndhamHP Set predominately in London, Unlocked follows former CIA agent Alice Racine (Noomi Rapace), who is brought back into action as suspicions arise that the capital might be under threat from a biological bomb. After she is tricked into providing information to the wrong side she rushes around the city hunting those […]

Kit Power by Kit Power
May 6, 2017
in Film, New Movies

Wyndham Hacket Pain @WyndhamHP

Set predominately in London, Unlocked follows former CIA agent Alice Racine (Noomi Rapace), who is brought back into action as suspicions arise that the capital might be under threat from a biological bomb. After she is tricked into providing information to the wrong side she rushes around the city hunting those behind the bomb and trying to stop the potential attack, with both American and British secret services questioning her actions and allegiances.

The setup may sound a bit clichéd but overall a good job is done of making the film appear different and interesting. If anything there is probably a bit too much going on. The plot has a few too many strands and there are times when the film struggles to keep them all working together. Thrillers can often be at their best when they tell simple stories rather than when they become overly complicated. Unlocked has too many storylines that become confusing as they overlap in the final third. This is not helped by an anticlimactic ending that undoes much of the good work done in the previous scenes.

There is also a strange blend of casting, with well-known Hollywood actors joined by unknown British performers. So much effort is put into making scenes feel realistic and gritty that it is odd that the likes of Michael Douglas, John Malkovich, and Orlando Bloom were all given major roles. Instead of feeling like natural casting choices they feel like they have been shoehorned into a film that was doing well without them. In the end they only distract from everything else that is going on and only make the story seem more disjointed.

This fragmented feeling is only enhanced by the dialogue. At its best the dialogue moves the story on at a good pace, but on occasion conversations end up being awkward and this can result in a loss of momentum and tension. There are similar issues with the opening sequences, where the premise and Racine’s return to action are setup in a clumsy and heavy handed way.

Despite its flaws once it gets going Unlocked is a slick and tense action thriller. The action sequences are well shot and there is a real sense of jeopardy to each moment. There might be moments where the film stagnates, but in between it is gripping and genuinely thrilling. On more than a couple occasions the action sequences had me jumping in my seat.

Behind the camera, Michael Apted brings over 40 years of experience, with director credits which include Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980), Nell (1994), The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Amazing Grace (2006), as well as the Up documentary series. The direction is controlled and gives the sense that Apted knows how every eventually will play out, even if the characters don’t.

RelatedPosts

Glasgow Film Festival 2021

Jonah Hill posts perfect response to Daily Mail article as he hits out at body shamers

Glasgow Film Festival: What we’ve seen so far

Film Review: PVT Chat

After an awkward and uncertain start, Unlocked settles into a mostly tense and well played out spy thriller that is at times let down by some disjointed dialogue and an anticlimactic ending. For the most part it is engaging and exciting, but there are too many lulls and losses of momentum for Unlocked to be anything other than an average thriller.

Unlocked is on general release from Friday 5th May

 

Tags: John MalkovichMichael DouglasNoomi RapaceOrlando Bloom
Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending fromTLE

  • All
  • trending

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

Stress, fear and homelessness: The threat looming over families confronted with eviction

File photo dated 07/11/03 of a prison cell.

The Other Prison Pandemic

Latest from TLE

Chancellor to extend furlough scheme until September as he unveils Budget

Image by AdobeStock

Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for London, Wednesday 3 March 2021

Lucky Numbers and Horoscopes for today, 3 March 2021

Euro Millions results Tuesday 2nd March 2021

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: jack@thelondoneconomic.com

Commercial enquiries, please contact: advertise@thelondoneconomic.com

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech & Auto
  • About The London Economic
  • Meet the Team
  • Privacy policy

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.