Ava
Don't Go!
Monotonous mercenary melodrama misses its mark.
Alcoholic assassin evades assassination.
In 2020, movie fans have been painfully starved of their annual blockbuster diet: ZERO Marvel movies (impossible!), ZERO DC Movies (shrug!), ZERO Star Wars Chapters (who’s your Daddy now?!), and not one - NOT ONE – Fast and/or Furious episode (never turn your back on family!). It begs the age-old question, if The Rock throws someone through a plate glass window and no-one sees it, does it even make a sound?
Perhaps the biggest postponement of the year has been James Bond’s latest (ahem) big release; the violent, globetrotting sex-fest, No Time To Die. Pandemic-inappropriate title aside, its intended April launch date would have perfectly suited the lockdown spring. James is the King of Covid escapism, freely doing everything social distancing precludes: spontaneously hooking up with strangers, strangling henchmen without disinfecting his hands, crossing borders with impunity, and shopping in Aldi without a mask. Thankfully we’ll be able to see him freely exhaling all over people in November, just in time for Covid's second wave. Until then, we are sustained by the likes of Ava – a big-budget, star-studded action-flick served up on the small screen.
Perhaps the biggest postponement of the year has been James Bond’s latest (ahem) big release; the violent, globetrotting sex-fest, No Time To Die. Pandemic-inappropriate title aside, its intended April launch date would have perfectly suited the lockdown spring. James is the King of Covid escapism, freely doing everything social distancing precludes: spontaneously hooking up with strangers, strangling henchmen without disinfecting his hands, crossing borders with impunity, and shopping in Aldi without a mask. Thankfully we’ll be able to see him freely exhaling all over people in November, just in time for Covid's second wave. Until then, we are sustained by the likes of Ava – a big-budget, star-studded action-flick served up on the small screen.
Ava, played by Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, Lawless), is a recovering addict with a bitchy mother (Geena Davis, Thelma & Lousie), a whiny sister (Jess Weixler, The Good Wife), a whiny ex-boyfriend (Common, John Wick: Chapter 2) and a recently deceased father (whiny, by reputation). When she returns home to Boston to "tie up some loose ends", all her familial traumas are again brought to bear. Incidentally, she’s also an ex-military, private super-assassin.
John Malkovich (Burn After Reading, The New Pope (TV)) is Duke – her expectedly gruff yet protective father-figure/handler/mentor. Colin Farrell (The Lobster, Total Recall) is the self-aggrandizing other-Duke-protégé, now elevated to the position of chief mercenary manager. Surprisingly named Simon, he loves a roll neck sweater and is just gagging to “close Ava’s contract” (i.e. put a bang bang in her brain box).
Between them, these actors have a fistful of Oscar wins and nominations, a small galaxy of Golden Globes, a gaggle of Emmys and even a Grammy or three. Ava, however, proves that all the shiny statuettes in the world are worthless if you melt them down into something this banal.
Despite attempting to be as cliché as possible, it initially shows some promise. Beyond the blonde wig and femme fatale routine, Ava is an atypical assassin, desperate for her victims to confess their sins before she snuffs them. Also promisingly, her whole backstory is laid out underneath the opening credits, accepting the dour predictability of her history so we can focus on the real story – the tension between her fragile emotional state, complicated family situation and ice-cold, international-assassin lifestyle.
John Malkovich (Burn After Reading, The New Pope (TV)) is Duke – her expectedly gruff yet protective father-figure/handler/mentor. Colin Farrell (The Lobster, Total Recall) is the self-aggrandizing other-Duke-protégé, now elevated to the position of chief mercenary manager. Surprisingly named Simon, he loves a roll neck sweater and is just gagging to “close Ava’s contract” (i.e. put a bang bang in her brain box).
Between them, these actors have a fistful of Oscar wins and nominations, a small galaxy of Golden Globes, a gaggle of Emmys and even a Grammy or three. Ava, however, proves that all the shiny statuettes in the world are worthless if you melt them down into something this banal.
Despite attempting to be as cliché as possible, it initially shows some promise. Beyond the blonde wig and femme fatale routine, Ava is an atypical assassin, desperate for her victims to confess their sins before she snuffs them. Also promisingly, her whole backstory is laid out underneath the opening credits, accepting the dour predictability of her history so we can focus on the real story – the tension between her fragile emotional state, complicated family situation and ice-cold, international-assassin lifestyle.
As a story driven by development of the central character, it labours heavily over her unspoken baggage, inner demons and fight against (inevitable) relapse into alcoholism. Her ambiguous motivations gradually trickle into view, but far too slowly and inconsequentially to make the long wait for a pay-off (which arguably never arrives) worthwhile. Beneath the dry, deadwood of a script and the turgid direction of Tate Taylor (The Girl on the Train, Get On Up), Ava, as a person, just ain’t that interesting.
Even the punch-by-numbers action sequences appear too infrequently to keep any embers of interest alive. While the agile Chastain is reasonably convincing as a fighter, she spends more time walking in and out of hotel lobbies and wandering around weepily than bashing in bad guys. With the current vogue for extremely realistic, well-choreographed and well-shot fight scenes (see: Atomic Blonde, Extraction, John Wick, The Old Guard, and of course, James Bond), Ava’s too-dark-to-see-anything, quick-cut fight scenes are increasingly incongruous in a film of this scale. In the end, Ava is disjointed, dissatisfying, and dull; 97 minutes made to feel a lot longer, in an era where time needs no help slowing down.
So, Don’t Go. While the cast list and premise are tempting amidst a dearth of major releases, have some patience, save your cash and (for cinema-goers) your mask. Wait for something worthwhile.
Ava is available to rent now for £13.99 on Amazon Video (UK), $10.99 on DIRECTV (US) and will be in US cinemas from 25 September. For some reason, it was also released in Hungary on 2 July.
Even the punch-by-numbers action sequences appear too infrequently to keep any embers of interest alive. While the agile Chastain is reasonably convincing as a fighter, she spends more time walking in and out of hotel lobbies and wandering around weepily than bashing in bad guys. With the current vogue for extremely realistic, well-choreographed and well-shot fight scenes (see: Atomic Blonde, Extraction, John Wick, The Old Guard, and of course, James Bond), Ava’s too-dark-to-see-anything, quick-cut fight scenes are increasingly incongruous in a film of this scale. In the end, Ava is disjointed, dissatisfying, and dull; 97 minutes made to feel a lot longer, in an era where time needs no help slowing down.
So, Don’t Go. While the cast list and premise are tempting amidst a dearth of major releases, have some patience, save your cash and (for cinema-goers) your mask. Wait for something worthwhile.
Ava is available to rent now for £13.99 on Amazon Video (UK), $10.99 on DIRECTV (US) and will be in US cinemas from 25 September. For some reason, it was also released in Hungary on 2 July.
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