With most of Hollywood's general releases either being franchise-driven or comic-book oriented films, it's a welcomed surprise to get a traditional 90's style action-thriller which leans heavily on both story as well as the strength of its main female lead to make it effective. Those Who Wish Me Dead isn't a thriller that would normally pop up on the minds of audiences in today's cinematic climate, but its addition offers the latter an old-fashioned (Though flawed) edge-of-your seat conspiracy thriller that would've fit right at home with audiences 25 years ago. The story is slow-paced but steadily builds up its tension with both Angelina Jolie and Finn Little's on screen bond appropriately distracting audiences from the films by-the-numbers feel regarding both its genre and plot.
Based on Michael Koryta's novel of the same name, the plot centers around a smoke jumper (Angelina Jolie) struggling to overcome the trauma of not being able to save three young boys during a forest fire, finds herself protecting a 12-year-old boy (Finn Little) from assassins who killed his father. While doing so, they must also escape a fire that's quickly consuming the surrounding forest. To those who are familiar with the old school 90's genre of thrillers, Those Who Wish Me Dead lifts many of its subplots and twists from those films with its scenario feeling a bit routine at times. There isn't anything present that hasn't been done before in other thrillers, but the film still manages to thrive as being a reasonably sufficient one mainly due to the steady-handed direction given by Taylor Sheridan along with the film capitalizing on Angelina Jolie's strong presence as a caring and tough female lead. As a survival story, Those Who Wish Me Dead is competently made regardless if it feels a bit forgettable due to it being a straightforward 90's action throwback that lacks innovativeness. However, there's something intriguing about seeing a plot involving Angelina Jolie running from a team of assassins while being trapped within a forest that's quickly being engulfed in a raging fire as a backdrop.
Despite the film suffering from being too generic, audiences will find satisfaction with the performances delivered by the cast, particularly Jolie and Little when the story focuses on them. With Jolie's experience as both an action heroine and dramatic actress, she manages to brilliantly merge both personas together with the story feeling like an ideal fit for her. She excels in her role as Hannah Faber, a grief-stricken smoke jumper whose posted in a fire lookout tower in Park City, Montana after failing to prevent the deaths of three young campers and a fellow smokejumper during a previous forest fire. The role feels like it was written specifically with Jolie in mind and she plays it as such. Finn Little impresses as Connor, son of forensic accountant Owen whose on the run after witnessing his father being murdered by a pair of professional assassins. Little conveys the fear and vulnerabilities of the character on-screen exceptionally well with the empathy he receives from audiences being well-warranted. He also does a fantastic job working off Jolie's performance with their dynamic serving as being the heart of the story. Nicholas Hoult and Aidan Gillen give strong performances as assassins Patrick and Jack with them being well-calculated antagonists whom the audience loves to hate. Jon Bernthal shines in his role as Hannah's ex-boytriend and local police officer Ethan with him being forced to help the assassins find both her and Connor. Medina Senghore also does well with her minimal role as Ethan's remarkable wife Allison with the same also being said for Jake Weber as Connors father Owen. The cast for Those Who Wish Me Dead all deliver performances that enhance the believability of the story with Jolie once again bringing her A game along with Little giving one of the better child actor performances.
The directing by Taylor Sheridan is surprising decent with him shaping the film to be strictly story-based with the action rightfully tacking a backseat to both plot and character development. The story is well-shot with stunning cinematography, that captures some eye-catching scenery of the rainforest with the scenes showing it engulfed in flames being visually striking to watch. Sheridan proves effective in both establishing, as well as steadily building up the mood and tension within the story. The scenes involving flashbacks showing Jolie's character being haunted by not being able to save the young kids surrounded by flames are intensely powerful to watch, as well as the moments involving the assassins pursuing both Owen and Connor. The films editing is tightly-paced with Sheridan keeping things progressively moving throughout the films 97 minute running time. Though the story takes its time establishing the characters and main scenario in the first half, the second half never lets up in regards to its level of suspense once the action kicks in. The films score by Brian Tyler is well-handled and goes hand-in-hand with the rest of the film in making the experience more thrilling for audiences. Overall, Sheridan's work here is impressive in the sense that he doesn't rely on the use of explosions or insane stunts to tell the story, but keeps both restrained while allowing the characters to dominate with everything else coming in second. His type of directing here is greatly missed with many of today's Hollywood productions, which often consist of blockbuster set-pieces and hundred million dollar budgets.
The screenplay by Michael Koryta, Charles Leaving, and Sheridan deserves commending for attempting to go against the typical Hollywood grain of special effects driven stories by presenting taut storytelling that comes with a healthy dose of plot elaboration and character development that's uncommon for today's style of thrillers. The character of Hannah is presented as being a psychologically wrecked individual due to her failure of rescuing the kids trapped in the fire with her being shown to drink excessively, as well as performing self-harm, and taking unnecessary risks as if she is taunting death. Her character is also fleshed out through her interactions with other individuals such as her relationship with ex-husband Ethan, shown to be strained with him being fed up with her actions, despite being happily married to his now pregnant wife Allison. The former doesn't have a role as significant as the other two, but she still manages to leave an impression with audiences regarding her characters subplot. The audience also manages to get enough time to connect with the father and son relationship between Owen and Connor, which raises the stakes when the latter is forced to go into hiding after witnessing his father's murder. One of the scripts more interesting choices in regards to its writing is presenting brief moments of the assassins having a moral compass in the mist of their trail of brute murders. Whereas they're shown to be completely unphased about killing one minute, they suddenly become hesitant when faced with killing a pregnant woman. The characters of Patrick and Jack interestingly enough manage to shift back and forth in regards to whose the more brutal and sadistic of the two with the film starting off with Jack being the older and more careless assassin with Patrick later becoming progressively worse. Although the script excels when taking the time to humanize its characters, as well as providing a clever backdrop for a cover-up story involving murder that's been done before numerous times (Old classic thrillers such as 1985's Witness, 1995's The Net, and 1997's Mercury Rising come to mind), it ultimately suffers when it begins to lift elements of its plot from previous thrillers such as the subplot between Jolie and Linn's character feeling like a knock-off of Harrison Ford's Witness combined with Man On Fire. The whole subplot including the burning of the fire tower also feels like a scene completely ripped off from 2003's Wrong Turn. The whole revelation regarding the murder of Owen and his boss in an attempt to prevent a major cover up from being exposed regarding powerful figures, feels like a plot that's been lifted from 90's era thrillers such as The Net and Enemy Of The State.
Although the glorification of firefighters in the story serves as being a clever twist on a rather generic action-thriller plot, they're ultimately treated as an after thought rather than being a true force in the films main story. As a whole, the writing for Those Who Wish Me Dead falls within the category of being serviceable with key elements working within its favor as well as against it.
Regardless of the films shortcomings, there's more to appreciate than dislike with the story serving as being a surprising homage to 1990's story-driven action-thrillers set in rural America. For older audiences, the film serves as being a welcomed breath of fresh air in an era that's heavily dominated by hundred million dollar blockbusters ruling the genre. For Jolie fans, her newest feature is a welcomed return to her female action heroine roots with the script being meaty enough in allowing her to perform some dramatic work. The film may be too old school for modern audiences but its taut style of storytelling and gripping performances make it a reasonably entertaining thriller, that at the very least warrants a single viewing.
Final Verdict: Fans of Angelina Jolie and old-fashioned thrillers will find Those Who Wish Me Dead to be a reasonable thriller worth streaming.
Images courtesy of Warner Brothers
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