Heart of Stone, the Gal Gadot action flick on Netflix, is unfortunate. To be fair to action movies, this one is equal to the improbable plots, impossible stunts, and sci-fi tech of any other action movie. I hoped Gal Gadot would make it better than the others, but she did not.
I wanted Heart of Stone to be as good as other female driven action films like those directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood or Patty Jenkins. This one, directed by Tom Harper, simply wasn’t up to those standards. Furthermore, it was burdened with bad writing. The exposition-heavy dialogue brought the film to a halt numerous times as the actors stopped what they were doing to explain the plot to us.
Rachel Stone (Gal Gadot) worked for a secret organization that possessed an artificial intelligence called “The Heart” that could see everything, do anything, and predict the future. When the film started, she was undercover with MI6 on an assignment in the Swiss Alps.
Parker (Jamie Dornan) was part of the team in the Alps who hoped to capture an arms dealer. That assignment went south and Stone blew her cover.
Sophie Okonedo played Stone’s boss, Nomad. She presided over a high tech installation like something borrowed from The Matrix. This tech could see anything, hack anything, kill anything. Nomad and her team, especially Stone, wanted to use that power for good.
But there were also evil characters who wanted all that power for nefarious reasons.
When Stone’s cover was blown, so was the cover of the bad guy – not telling you who that is. A new character, Keya Dhawan (Alia Bhatt), came into the story. She was an equal to Stone in skill, but working to get hold of The Heart to use it for revenge.
The remainder of the story went all around the globe and into space as the battle for the AI of The Heart raged away.
Thematically, fighting over possession of the artificial intelligence that knows all and can control all is certainly topical and relevant to current events. So, points for that. More points for including characters with a moral code who wanted to use their skill and talent to create good in the world. We need more people like that right now on the planet.
I’m not telling you not to watch this one. It does have a good cast. Just don’t expect a lot from it. If you watch it, please share your thoughts below.
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I like Gal Gadot, and think she’s a cool actress. However, I can only suspend disbelief so far. So many problems. I was going to point out a couple, but they would be spoilers, so I wont.
LOL. My initial thoughts were about the over the top suspension of disbelief required by this film, too.
The music drove me crazy. It would be grand to have Gal Gadot, Sophie Okonedo, and Alia Bhatt together in a much better movie.
I certainly agree with that excellent idea.