Heart of Stone was released on Netflix on August 11, 2023. Directed by Tom Harper and written by Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder, this spy action thriller followed Rachel Stone and her dangerous pursuit of a mysterious weapon called the Heart.
Even though Heart of Stone was a little over two hours long, it failed to live up to its hype. It felt like a normal spy thriller compared to what its director had said about it pre-release. There are plans to expand this franchise, but its future is in jeopardy because of a poor first installment.
Heart of Stone review: What does it mean for the future of the franchise?
Heart of Stone was neither a masterpiece nor a complete failure. It was just watchable. It is not impossible to sit through the movie and finish it without giving up. Spy action thrillers have been done to death by Hollywood, and astonishingly, nothing significant has changed for the genre over the past few years.
Given that Gal Gadot was in the spotlight, there were expectations of something extraordinary. Heart of Stone director Tom Harper previously expressed his desire to create a James Bond-like franchise around her.
In a recent conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Tom Harper said,
“There were a couple of things that immediately jumped out at me, the first was that it was an original movie in a genre that is full of great franchises, but things that have been around for a long time — the Mission: Impossibles or the Bonds or the Bournes.”
However, if the film series continues to disappoint like this first installment, Gadot’s career could fall into jeopardy.
Gadot has retired from the role of Wonder Woman, and this franchise is supposed to be the next big step for her. Several spy thrillers have already been released in 2022 and 2023, and most of them were generic and monotonous. Films like The Gray Man, Ghosted, and Gadot’s previous film, Red Notice, were forgettable as they clearly failed to create an impact.
However, this Netflix film was better than the aforementioned movies. It did look like it had a decent budget. The action sequences tried to elevate the film, but they looked extremely artificial. Moreover, the choreography was repetitive. It was not hard for a viewer to figure out the green screen since special effects and CGI were astonishingly average.
There were several influences from India. For example, there was a scene where an old Rajasthani fort was being used as a secret hideout. The place even had a pet peacock. But this was not the only influence. One of the antagonists in the film was the Indian actress Alia Bhatt.
Bhatt just made her Hollywood debut, but it is strange as to why she thought Heart of Stone would be the perfect start. Her entire potential was wasted. Moreover, she hardly received any screen time. It has not been confirmed if she will star in its sequel.
Heart of Stone’s concept was slightly similar to that of Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, but certainly not a total ripoff. While the soundtrack was enjoyable, it lacked balance. There were instances where the incorrect song was used according to the context. Things like these were ruining the flow of the film, rendering it monotonous.
Heart of Stone is undoubtedly a one-time watch, but given that Gadot has fans all over the world, the film is likely to get a healthy viewership.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn