It is no surprise that Tom Harper's directorial 'Heart of Stone' could pull off many unique stunts. Starring an ensemble cast like Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan and Alia Bhatt, this Netflix original is a promising watch for action film lovers.
Gal Gadot delivers one of her best performances portraying Rachel Stone, a spy. A character high on action, Gadot meets her fans' expectations and portrays a different 'wonder woman' in the film.
Rachel Stone is a spy among spies. She works with M16 (Parker, Bailey and Yang) and secretly for the 'Charters'. Despite her dual role, Stone remains faithful to both organisations. In one of her missions with M16, her identity as a member of the Charters gets compromised. This leads to further revelations where she learns about another mole in M16 who is after the Heart, a powerful AI device. Alia Bhatt portrays Keya Dhawan in her Hollywood debut film.
Though high on action, the action and chase scenes might remind the audience of Mission Impossible and James Bond films. Some of the action sequences seem like a tedious copy from recent releases like Citadel and MI: Dead Reckoning Part One. Rachel Stone, who is known as “Nine” in the organisation 'Charters' may remind viewers of the popular spy code name-“007”.
The movie does put effort in terms of suspense and thrill, especially in the first half. The several twists in the first half of the film make it rich in mystery and suspense. As the film progresses into the second half, the plot becomes more predictable. Except for a few lines, the dialogues sounded just average. One of the interesting ones was mouthed by Dornan (Parker), and he uses a similarly sounding line in two extremely different situations in the film. Dornan says, “It knows you better than you know yourself” while referring to the 'Heart', a powerful AI device. And says something similar while commenting about Stone.
The movie plays well with the title 'Heart of Stone'. Though the literal translation can mean a person who is stern and cruel, Agent Stone proves to be the exact opposite. Throughout the movie, Stone depends on her emotional side and gut while making decisions. At times, her gut does deceive her, but, in the climax, it's her abundant trust in herself that leads to Stone's triumph. The movie also focuses on the growing sisterhood between Rachel Stone (Gal Gadot) and Keya Dhawan (Alia Bhatt). Though their relationship is riddled with friction, they later develop a bond and hold each other’s back. The last action block between Parker (Jamie Dornan), Stone (Gal Gadot) and Dhawan (Alia Bhatt) in the film highlights the strong bond between the girls and reminds the viewers of 'Charlie’s Angels'.
Director – Tom Harper
Cast – Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, Alia Bhatt, Matthias Schweighofer
Rating – 3/5