Ava (2020)
“Count no man happy until his end is known.” – Duke
Ava (2020)
Directed by: Tate Taylor
Written by: Matthew Newton
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, John Malkovich, Common
This is an interesting one, as I watched this before seeing it got slaughtered by reviewers (16% on Rotten Tomatoes). Ava is yet another assassin/spy thriller trying to piggyback off the success of the John Wick franchise. This isn’t to say it’s a bad movie, it’s just...not a good movie.
Jessica Chastain stars as Ava Falkner, an assassin with a troubled past who is recruited by a black-ops organisation to perform high-profile hits across the globe. When she begins asking her targets questions before killing them, fellow assassin Simon (Farrell) and her former mentor Duke (Malkovich) are tasked with getting her back-on-track by the organisation. As she reconnects with her family and the organisation track her down, Ava is forced to keep her personal life and her professional life separate.
Director Tate Taylor has clearly drawn a lot of inspiration from the John Wick franchise. A faceless organisation that operates seamlessly amongst an unknowing society is not a new concept (the Bond films, the Bourne movies, more recently the Kingsmen franchise), but Taylor has tried to create an assassins ‘world’, similar to John Wick. That is, showing you how assassins talk to one another, what ‘rules’ they live by, who their contacts are, how they purchase weapons, and so on and so forth. The depth of this world was what made the John Wick franchise so fun, and lets the audience feel like they are peeking behind a top-secret curtain.
Ava tries to do this, showing Ava being contacted to complete each of her hits, how she obtains her weapons, as well as a look at what happens when an assassin goes against their ‘organisation’. However, there’s not really any depth to any of it. You never really work out who the organisation is, who’s running it, where Simon, Duke or Ava are on the food-chain, or any of the other minutia John Wick provides. Instead, you get about thirty minutes of ‘character development’ for Ava as she goes to alcoholics anonymous and fights with her mum, sister and ex-boyfriend. I know this is supposed to make her seem like a ‘normal, relatable’ person, and make the audience feel empathetic for her character, but c’mon – she’s an ex-addict who kills people for a living. I’m not watching the film to become her best friend. It’s wasted screentime, and Taylor should have spent that developing the secret world further.
Whilst the script itself is a bit disjointed, the three leads all provide good performances (they’re all great actors so not a huge surprise here), with Chastain in particular really throwing herself into the action sequences. She’s believable as an intimidating assassin, and the fight-scenes are entertaining enough to keep you watching. Instead of the main character just breezing through each fight, they’ve done a good job of making it more realistic, with Ava taking her fair share of punishment along the way (think Atomic Blonde, or Netflix’s Daredevil series). Bonus points for letting us watch a sixety-seven year old Malkovic throw-down and try to channel his inner assassin.
Before wrapping up, two cool side-narratives jump off the screen in this one. First, Jessica Chastain is doing her best to wrestle the crown of ‘best female action star’ from Charlize Theron. Chastain is great and very believable in her role, and this follows her superhero debut in the most recent X-Men movie, but Charlize is pretty much untouchable at this stage with a ridiculous action resume (Mad Max:Fury Road, Atomic Blonde, Fate of the Furious, The Old Guard). Other contenders for the crown include Gal Gadot, Emily Blunt and Brie Larson. Second, Common is the undisputed king of assassin movies! He’s now been a major character in Wanted, John Wick, Smoking Aces and this. Good job Common, you're not a good actor but you’ve certainly carved out a nice niche for yourself.
In summary, this movie isn’t winning any awards, and it certainly isn’t getting a sequel. The script drags in spots and it’s pretty easy to zone out when she reunites with her family. However, the action is just good enough to keep you watching, and Chastain does a good job carrying the film. Watch this only if you’re hungover or cooking dinner and need something to put on in the background.
Rating: 5/10