Those Who Wish Me Dead movie review 2021

MOVIE TITLE: Those Who Wish Me Dead

This movie is available in select theaters and on HBO Max on May 14, 2021. It will only be available on HBO Max for 31 days though.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 40 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

A teenage murder witness finds himself pursued by two assassins in the Montana wilderness with a survival expert/smoke-jumper tasked with protecting him — and a forest fire threatening to consume them all. This action-thriller is based on a New York Times best-selling novel by Michael Koryta and stars the talented and beautiful Angelina Jolie.

THINGS I LIKED:

It’s been 10 years since we’ve been able to see Angelina Jolie in anything! Her last role was in the spy thriller Salt , which I really enjoyed. In this film, she plays a damaged character who is tough, yet vulnerable. She can always be counted on to carry the drama, emotion, and action in any flick. She trained 4 days a week for her role as a fire jumper and does her own stunts in the movie.
Young actor Finn Little did a fantastic job in both the emotional and action moments. He’s got a bright career in acting in front of him if he wants it! I’m a new fan!
I’ve always liked Jon Bernthal. He definitely brings his A-game to the film, as does Medina Senghore, who plays his pregnant wife. That definitely doesn’t make her a damsel in distress though. She knows how to handle firearms and dig deep to survive in crazy, intense situations.
You get to enjoy some scenery of the beautiful wilderness of Montana with cinematography by Ben Richardson.
Fans of Tyler Perry will be thrilled to see that he makes a brief cameo performance, although it’s kind of a pointless scene.
The fire sequences are definitely believable and never seemed like bad CGI to me.
Director Taylor Sheridan does a great job of building tension.
Helpful survival tip for when you’re lost in the wilderness: “Creeks lead to rivers, and rivers lead to towns.”

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It’s hard to really believe Angelina Jolie is a tough firefighter because she’s so tiny. One of the other characters even points out how skinny she is. “I’m lean!” she protests. She’s been in the news recently for stories about her weight loss. I’ve always thought she was pretty but she was absolutely stunning in her role in the movie The Tourist. Unfortunately, there isn’t much of an arc for her character, although there is a small portion of resolution from a previous trauma she keeps seeing in flashbacks. Early in the movie, she has a drunken parachuting stunt that we assume will provide an opportunity for redemption by the end of the movie, but it never does. Weird.
There were some surprisingly bad edits.
The villains are so heartless that they almost feel like over-the-top cartoons. Even still, actors Aidan Gillen and Nicholas Hoult give good performances.
We immediately know which characters we’re supposed to root for, but the thin character development doesn’t give us as much information as we would like about everyone. Too much time is spent in Act 1 setting up the plot that doesn’t give us enough details either.
It’s a little bit of a slow burn, but it definitely builds to an intense crescendo in Act 3. It almost feels like a fiery disaster movie from the 1990s.
There aren’t really any new stunts we haven’t already seen before, so ultimately, the movie will be mostly forgettable.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Profanity, F-bombs, and crude language. The child actor shouts a string of F-bombs.
Talk of sex
Violence
People are hurt in dangerous forest fires
Destruction of forest and property
Some gory images
You see Angelina Jolie in a bra

THEMES:

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Family
Crooked FBI agents
Fighting for what’s right
Defending the innocent
Greed and power
The power of nature
In an interview, Angelina explained, “On its surface, it feels like a great thriller, a great adventure across an unusual terrain inside a great fire,” Jolie says. “Underneath it, it’s a really emotional film. It’s about people who have a great impact on each other and change each other. Emotionally and practically, they go through the fire.”