Ghosted (2023)

A mix of action and rom-com starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas in the lead roles, Ghosted should have been an easy success. The familiar faces, the familiar plotting, and a succession of cameos make it an obvious choice for some straightforward entertainment. There's a reason that it's pretty much been forgotten already though. It's not good. It's hard to describe as truly awful, although I am sure some will, but it's certainly as bland as some vegetable that has had all of the flavour boiled out of it.

Evans plays Cole Turner, a young man who falls hard for Sadie Rhodes (De Armas). He thinks that it might be a good idea, after spending one day with her, to pay her a surprise visit in London. Things don't go according to plan though, with Cole soon abducted by people who believe him to be an infamous CIA agent known as "The Taxman". Can you guess who is actually that agent? Bickering, gunfights, and various hijinks soon ensue.

Written by the not-insubstantial-quartet of Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers, Ghosted is what happens when you believe that your film has enough star power to ignore things like proper wit, pacing, and characters with some depth. There is nothing to this when you remove the stars. Nothing.

Director Dexter Fletcher is often a capable talent, but he is clearly hamstrung here by the demands of delivering such studio fluff. The action doesn’t have any weight or impact, there’s a surprising, and debilitating, lack of chemistry between the two leads, and nothing is done to make things more interesting around the superficial glossy smoothness of everything.

Evans and De Armas have rarely been worse. They can be charismatic, they can be convincing with action beats and physical work, and they can be fun, but you wouldn’t know that from watching this. Adrien Brody is a main villain, but feels like the wrong choice in every scene focusing on him. It’s either him just cashing a big cheque or not able to find his way into a performance that should just be a bit ridiculous and entertaining. Nobody else makes much of an impression, and the many cameos that crop up feel like a desperate and lazy attempt to please Marvel fans. They are smug and unfunny, like so many other parts of the movie.

I still won’t describe this as truly awful, there were one or two moments I enjoyed before completely losing any optimism about it improving, but it is bad. Very bad. It deserves to be as forgotten as it already is, and I am sure the main cast members are happy to see it fade from memory so quickly.

3/10

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Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

I don't know why, but I felt as if Captain America: Brave New World was going to be the fresh start that we needed for the MCU. It didn't have to be weighed down with the baggage of a whole load of other movies. It didn't have to necessarily be setting up numerous future adventures. It could simply . . . be, allowing fans to appreciate what they got onscreen while still remaining calm and unfazed about whatever was coming along next.

It almost worked.

Anthony Mackie is Sam Wilson, now Captain America, having been bequeathed the iconic shield some time ago. He has a few extra gadgets to help him, but no super-serum. Harrison Ford is President Thaddeus Ross, a powerful man who may be ready to empathise and compromise with superheroes who are now necessary to keep countries, and even the world, safe. Things might work out well, but not if the likes of Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) and Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) have their way.

There's enough to enjoy here. Mackie is excellent as a leading man, Ford is a great addition to the MCU, and there are some very enjoyable supporting characters. Danny Ramirez is likable enough as Joaquin Torres, someone who wants to be the next Falcon, Carl Lumbly is very good as Isaiah Bradley, a previous Captain America, and Shira Haas is certainly memorable as a leading security advisor to the POTUS. Nelson is also great, and benefits enormously from receiving more time and attention than Esposito, who is sadly wasted (and this is the second of the 2025 movies I have seen that sadly wastes Esposito).

Director Julius Onah, who also worked on the screenplay with four other writers, doesn't embarrass himself. He delivers some good images, keeps the tone impressively serious without being too sombre and gloomy throughout, for the most part, and handles the action well when we get some action. That is arguably the biggest problem with this though, a disappointing lack of action. It feels caught between two places, with some of the paranoid political thriller vibes of the excellent second Captain America film and then some belated crash bang wallop moments to keep fans happy just before the credits roll (and, yes, we’re back to waiting around to see what a post-credits scene will hint at).

It may be a return to form, certainly in terms of the overall look and feel, and there may be a focus that seemed to be lacking from the MCU during the past couple of “wilderness years”, but there’s nothing that makes it feel as entertaining, bombastic, or just outright fun as the better movies under the Marvel umbrella. Much like the titular hero, however, it does give some hope for the future.

7/10

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Prime Time: Angel Has Fallen (2019)

Gerard Butler returns to the role of Secret Service agent Mike Banning in this third in the "Fallen" action series, and you could do a lot worse if you're after a decent action thriller with some fun set-pieces throughout.

Banning seems to be, to put it bluntly, getting a bit too old for this shit. Which isn't a problem, because the President (Morgan Freeman) wants to promote him. A nice job with less chance of people trying to shoot him and blow him up. That's not an automatic yes for Mike though, having spent his life in the middle of the action. He's right back in it when an attempt is made on the President's life, framing him as the main suspect.

Yes, Angel Has Fallen is basically The Fugitive with Gerard Butler in the main role, which means more brutal violence and swearing than you got from Harrison Ford. And more Scottishness. I wish there had been an equivalent to Butler in his band of pursuers, just for us to get the glorious "right, all a yous lot git tae work noo, I want you to check every coffee hoose, dug hoose, oot hoose, doss hoose, Muirhoose, Broomhoose until we catch this bam."

If you have seen the previous two movies then there will be no doubt in your mind how this turns out. Banning is always the smartest and toughest guy in any scenario, so it's just a matter of time until he gets himself in the right place at the right time to take down the main villain. And speaking of main villain, if it isn't obvious to you as soon as they appear onscreen then you've never seen ANY movie before.

Ric Roman Waugh does a decent enough job with the direction, working from a screenplay he helped shape with Robert Mark Kamen and Matt Cook. You're not getting any particularly memorable dialogue, but the plotting and pacing both work quite well, and the assortment of characters help to make a fun mix.

Butler is once again having a lot of fun in the lead role, which is slightly infectious. You can happily start laughing as soon as someone threatens him with harm. Freeman is very Presidential, although he has a bit less to do when he ends up incapacitated for a lot of the runtime. Piper Perabo is at the stage of her career now where she plays "loving wife to the hero", she does fine with what she's given, and Lance Reddick is his usual dependable self as David Gentry, the director of the Secret Service. You also get Danny Huston as Wade Jennings, an old friend of our hero who immediately makes you suspicious of him by the fact that he's Danny Huston, and Nick Nolte steals a few scenes as Clay Banning, the absent father who has spent years living off the grid.

Not setting out to be subversive or clever, Angel Has Fallen is simply an entertaining action flick with moments of satisfyingly cathartic violence against nasty villains. Butler, and others carrying weapons, can carry off the look and feel of it all convincingly enough, making it easier to digest all of the nonsense without being overly critical of it all.

7/10

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