An Underrated Spy Cliché (The 355 review)

 

Targeted as the first flop of the year, The 355 has more than meets the eye. As it grows to be an underrated gem written and directed by longtime X-Men contributor, Simon Kinberg, helms this in the style of a spy thriller. After collaborating with Jessica Chastain in his directorial debut, Dark Phoenix, the two developed and pitched this to Universal Studios as a female equivalent to male-dominated spy franchises. With an A-list that includes Chastain, Sebastian Stan, Lupita Nyongo, Diane Kruger, Penelope Cruz, and Fan BingBing, this all-female iteration at a spy franchise is worth appreciating despite the predictable attributes. 

The film centers around a device that hacks into anything, making it a weapon of mass destruction. Agencies all over the globe attempt to retrieve it to avoid it being in the wrong hands. Although it might feature an ensemble cast, it is clear that the main character is Chastain's Mace as she tries to get a British hacker, a German assassin, a psychologist from a Colombian agency, and a Chinese weapons master to work together. 

There have been a lot of criticisms made against this movie not only towards its plot, but towards the actor's contribution when it came to stunts. As far as I could tell, it was pretty clear none of them used stunt doubles, especially Chastain. For a PG-13 flick, the fight choreography was pretty violent despite the lack of blood. All in all, the punches landed pretty hard. Another criticism was towards Fan BingBing's involvement in the film. Yes, it was clear that Fan wasn't there for most of the movie with the rest of the cast, but it's possible her role was changed to avoid backlash. 

Every spy thriller has a big twist of something or more accurately someone, double-crossing our main hero. This is where the spy element fails as it makes out the villain to be too obvious. (ergo... I figured out the twist 10 minutes into the film). With that, a certain suspicious character was not...suspicious at all, just plain useless. A pretty harsh term but unfortunately accurate for a character's portrayal I am leaving anonymous. Like every spy thriller, I'm keeping the spoilers to myself. 

The flaws in this are as clear as day but then again, this movie was made during COVID so, you gotta give them some credit. Kinberg made a movie that wasn't bogged down by franchise fatigue but instead was original and fun but unfortunately, cliche. Looking far ahead from its issues, The 355 is worth the watch, whether it's in cinemas or at the comfort of your home.