'Heart Of Stone' movie review: Routine but watchable Action espionage thriller

Heart Of Stone still

Film: Heart of Stone (Netflix)
Cast: Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, Alia Bhatt, Sophie Okonedo, Matthias Schweighöfer, Paul Ready, Jing Lusi, Archie Madekwe, Enzo Cilenti, Jon Kortajarena
Director: Tom Harper
Rating: 2.5/5
Runtime: 122m

Heart of Stone is yet another reworking of the James Bondesque action thriller. There's non-stop action, aerial and chase thrills, spills, double crosses, vehicle crashes, a large body count and surfeit of explosions. The only difference here is that the Bond-like secret agent at the center of it all is a woman, aka Wonder Woman Gal Gadot as Rachel Stone. Screenwriters Greg Ruck and Allison Schroeder fashion an escapist fare that has a ‘mission impossible' at the heart of it. An able cast ( including desi girl Alia Bhatt essaying the role of a counter/rogue agent Keya Chavan with spunky sizzle even though her role is just a sidebar to the main lead ) and some frenzied action set pieces and minimal dialogue helps bolster the experience to watchable.

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The storyline is rather convoluted. Masquerading as a fledgling MI-6 agent, Rachel Stone (Gal Gadot) is not just a meek tech expert, She belongs to the Charter, a global peacekeeping force that has planted agents to work behind the scenes in much of the world's power structures. Her fellow field agents, Parker (Jamie Dornan), Theresa (Jing Lusi), and Bailey (Paul Ready), don't have an inkling about her secret. Stone works under instructions from a super-advanced computer called the ‘Heart' and only realises the danger it can lead to when the disruptive and brilliant Keya (Alia Bhatt) interrupts an operation. And yes…there's a skeleton key involved here too!

The film has some exciting action set-pieces linked to tightly constructed fight sequences with Gadot using her wealth of action movie experience to make Stone look credible. The action zips through Italy, London, Portugal, Senegal and Iceland. Steven Price's background score augments the thrills quite beautifully. Each and every member of the cast deals with the issue at hand with evident seriousness, making the entire scenario (which could well have been considered hokey) assume a vividness that keeps doubt at bay. The speedy pacing, hyper camerawork and smart editing add weight to the thrills here.

There's obviously nothing new here but there's enough exhilaration created by the rejigging of traditional tried and tested spy thriller tropes to make the mission seem like a tense, high-stakes one. Director Tom Harper appears to be enjoying himself, littering the narrative with big-bang moments. The special effects and practical effects mesh together beautifully to generate a solid run for the suspension of your disbelief. The primary aim of the film is to entertain and it does that with efficient ease.