Heart of Stone
Introduction
Onto the next release of the weekend(and I hope someone keeps a count), I finished watching the new English film Heart Of Stone which is now streaming on Netflix. There are two major reasons that I was looking forward to watching the film – one obviously was Gal Gadot who has excelled in action films earlier. The second reason was Alia Bhatt, fresh off the success of Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani, making her Hollywood debut. Quite honestly, the talent that she possesses made me wonder on why Hollywood took such a long time to get her onboard. But along with these factors, there was a sense of skepticism too.
There has been a plethora of spy thrillers with the pinnacle of it being Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1. Even back home the YRF Spy Universe has been on full throttle with the release of Pathaan and then Tiger 3 to follow. Given the genre, there has been a tendency of fatigue which would set in especially if the same kind of stories are circulated within the same template. This is where a film like MI-7 is a cut above the rest, given how it did manage to create situations across the storyboard while pushing the envelope with the daredevil action sequences. With Heart Of Stone, this was my sole worrying factor, does it manage to impress…lets find out.
Story & Screenplay
Heart Of Stone follows the story of an undercover agent who must stop a MacGuffin from falling into the hands of the enemies. Will she end up saving the day? The story here is as generic for a spy thriller as things can be. And all my fears about the film did come true unfortunately. The challenge was in presenting a spy thriller with an outlandish plot in a convincing manner. But sadly, that wasn’t to be although I wouldn’t label the film as an out and out disaster. The story definitely did have some tense moments particularly in the first hour. The screenplay standing at a shade above 2 hours is essentially a story about the two halves. While the first hour sizzles, the second hour fizzles out.
The drama gets into action straight up without quite introducing the characters or the hifden agendas that they have. An uncover operation is underway that contributes to several tense moments leading upto an exhilarating action set piece. Slowly after the prefix, you are introduced to the characters and you slowly are aware of the motivations. The characters are generally one-dimensional while being devoid of any arc but that wasn’t much of an issue in the first place given that I did not enter this world expecting for one! The issue was the absence of a single antagonist who would make for a daunting challenge to be overpowered.
The proceedings have some sort of shape and form in the first hour atleast with the action set pieces that manage to impress you. If I were to overlook some of the jump cuts, the action set pieces were quite brilliantly staged while also investing time in the MacGuffin known as ‘The Heart’. It was only the drama around it which wasn’t as convincing wherein I did get a feeling of the writers not fully committing to the proceedings. The events were watchable but not great by any stretch of imagination. On a side note, a couple of twists in the screenplay did work well too!
The slide begins in the second hour when the events get far too simplistic and convenient that made me believe that this wasn’t a spy movie anymore but a superhero movie. The writing did go around in circles and was far from being impressive. Even the intensity of the action sequences did dip in the second hour leading to an underwhelming final act which in itself is an understatement. Overall, the screenplay is just about average and doesn’t quite manage to impress.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are decent and just about adequate. The BGM is alright and it really should have been better atleast by utilizing a single theme music which was utilized so well in MI-7. The cinematography is excellent especially in the action set pieces in the first hour. The editing dilutes the impact of exactly those sequences with the introduction of multiple jump cuts. Director Tom Harper starts off on a strong note but soon fizzles out as the drama continues to unfold. There were some serious execution issues that did not make for an impressive viewing.
Performances
The performances are pretty decent here. Matthias Schweighghofe is quite impressive, as is Sophie Okonedo. Alia Bhatt as Keya makes an impressive debut and hers was the only character with some sort of an arc which she pulls off pretty well. Jamie Dornan as Parker is just about okay and doesn’t quite hit the nail on the head with his role. Gal Gadot as Rachel Stone is impressive but her character has just a single tone to play with which ultimately leads to her downfall.
Conclusion
Heart Of Stone is just another average spy thriller that fails to impress due to its bland and generic writing. Available on Netflix.
