‘Heart Of Stone’ Review- Competent But Not Extraordinary
This movie streamed in 2023.
Heart Of Stone is an action spy thriller from Netflix and director Tom Harper. Gal Gadot not only stars in the film but also co-produced it.
Rachel Stone (Gal Gadot) is a covert agent working for the Charter, a group of spies who carry on missions apart from nations. She is embedded in an MI6 team as a hacker with Parker (Jamie Dornan), Bailey (Paul Ready), and Yang (Jing Lusi). Their attempts at capturing an arms dealer are scuttled by a mysterious hacker known as Keya (Alia Bhatt).
When Stone reports to Charter, her boss Nomad (Sophie Okonedo) berates her performance but promises their agent Jack (Matthias Schweighöfer) will use the supercomputer Heart to figure out what is happening. Stone and the MI6 team head to Lisbon to look for Keya, but they are betrayed by Parker, who wants to steal the Heart and use it to destroy the Charter. Stone is forced to go rogue to stop him and Keya before it is too late.
You will be happy to know that Gadot does not turn her into Wonder Woman for her fight scenes. She gets damaged and when facing an opponent obviously stronger than her, she finds a way to beat them without resorting to absurd fisticuffs. I appreciate that and how she performed as Stone. She is a decent actor so it was nice to see her apart from iconic superhero role.
The main issue is with the movie itself. It borrows from several spy flick tropes but offers nothing new about them. We have a secret organization full of rogue vigilante spies. We have a former member turning evil. We have a henchwoman who wants redemption. The protagonist has to go rogue to stop the crime. Yada. Yada.
When done right, these tropes can make a great thriller, but this time around, it felt like paint-by-numbers. That is not to say you cannot enjoy it. I am sure you can with the right amount of popcorn, but you will find it a bit stale with how it handles its plot.
In some ways, I do feel bad for Gadot. She should consider getting a new agent. Many of her roles since Wonder Woman have been duds. Death on the Nile was banished to streaming. Wonder Woman 1984 was an abject failure. Red Notice had no chance. Her recent role as the Evil Stepmother in Snow White was sabotaged by her erstwhile co-star and studio interference. Hopefully, better decisions will be made for her career going forward because she has so much appeal as an actress.
Bottom line, Heart Of Stone is a competent movie but offers nothing extraordinary in terms of its genre or plot.
PARENTAL CONCERNS: Some foul language, Intense action violence
FAVORITE QUOTE: Do not leave the van.
Check out the trailer below:
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, or anime you would like me to review.