Ava

Maybe if this were a two-hour special of Days of Our Lives, Ava could be seen as a success. Unlikeable characters with illogical motivations wander through a sort of reality that is reminiscent of life and poor actors who probably only received the script at the door when they arrived for the shoot. This cold-blooded assassin constantly emotionally hounded by an old family trauma looks deep into her memories which she supposedly isn’t interested in, because she wants to steal her sister’s husband and disappear? So Common plays a complete jerk and Colin Farrell a slippery HR manager who is just solving a problem with the staff. ‘Cause business rules... The whole of the funny finale when the heroine is on the brink of suicide until a baddie who wants to kill her breaks into her apartment and so she fights for her dear life with him sounds like something from a screenwriter who didn’t read what came before so he could follow on from that. A miserable movie, with pretty good action. (25/04/2021)

Assassin Jessica Chastain returns home after years to reconcile with her sister, sort things out with her mom, confront her own past, and occasionally kill someone Colin Farrell sends at her. Ava is more of a drama that tries to avoid action, which is good because the action isn't worth much. Unfortunately, however, the drama isn't worth much either, so aside from the charismatic and punishingly underused cast, there's really nothing in this schlock worth wasting your time for. (07/08/2020)

I give this film one star only because I felt sorry for John Malkovich, who, regardless of the script, gave a high-quality performance as usual. For me, he was the only part of the movie which wasn’t a disappointment. I wasn't impressed by the rest of the cast, especially Geena Davis, who was downright terrifying, looking like her own rubber caricature. The script was terrible, the choreography of the fights was ridiculous (or pathetic, it’s up to you to decide) and Jessica Chastain was as convincing as Idris Elba in the role of Heimdall. (27/11/2020)

In the scenes featuring Geena Davis, I fail to see how the “horror” genre label applies. You need a strong stomach to watch  someone who used to be a charismatic young lady and is now bloated with Botox. Hollywood actresses seem to be incapable of ageing gracefully. Nicole Kidman says hello. As for the movie as such? Jessica, following in the footsteps of Charlize Theron, has produced the umpteenth variation on the “tough girl” trope, and it doesn’t work at all. Not even as a relationship drama, because no one will be invested in Ava’s family troubles, nor as an action movie, because the action is bland and lifeless and lacks adrenalin. I really bought Charlize’s combative Amazon, but I couldn’t suspend disbelief for Jessica’s. Two stars, but only because I wasn’t offended by how stupid it was, and because of John Malkovich, who delivers a fantastic “protective grandfather” aura. The man is charisma incarnate. (29/08/2020)

Nothing that we haven't seen before (perhaps with the exception of Steven Seagal's films), and it’s been done better. Jessica Chastain battles not only killers, but also the stupid script, the rest of the cast looks good in the credits, but as a result it's all a big missed chance. In addition, Tate Taylor can't even shoot a proper action scene, which is pretty bad for an action movie. (24/04/2021)