Survivor (2015) [Blu-ray]
Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline: Framed. Abandoned. Hunted.

After being mysteriously framed for a terrorist bombing, a Foreign Service Officer (Milla Jovovich) must evade government capture and death by a ruthless assassin (Pierce Brosnan) in order to stop the real perpetrators' master-and much deadlier-plan. Survivor is directed by James McTeigue and also stars Dylan McDermott, Angela Bassett and Robert Forster.

Storyline: A State Department employee newly posted to the American embassy in London is charged with stopping terrorists from getting into the U.S. That puts her right in the line of fire and she is targeted for death and framed for crimes. Discredited, she is forced to go on the run while she tries to clear her name and stop a large-scale terrorist attack set for New Year's Eve in Times Square. Written by Ben Read

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, June 18, 2015 -- If there are three perfect little words to describe Survivor, they would be "dime-a-dozen." The film, from Director James McTeigue -- best known for the fight-the-system favorite V for Vendetta -- is a lackluster affair at best, on one hand a nicely polished and technically sound movie but, on the other, a fully unoriginal thing that dares not defy convention. The movie moves along swiftly enough, its relatively brisk 90-some-odd-minute runtime just perfect for a film with nothing new to offer. As characters physically maneuver around busy streets and mentally maneuver through the minefield of cat-and-mouse escapades, the picture maneuvers through predictable, threadbare plot devices, stale action scenes, and see-them-coming revelations that are finely honed just enough to keep audience attention but not make anything novel or exciting out of them. Survivor, then, represents the classic "time filler" movie, something that's well made and reasonably entertaining but hardly a thing of any noteworthy artistic merit, hefty dramatic purpose, or memorable character development. "Dime-a-dozen" indeed.

With new anti-counterfeit technology hard at work, terrorists are turning away from forged visas and are attempting to earn them legitimately. Issuing agencies are beefing up profiling and reporting anybody, or anything, that even hints at suspicion. Spearheading the new operation out of the U.S. embassy in London is Kate Abbott (Milla Jovovich), a woman still reeling from the 9/11 attacks and ready to pounce on anything that she believes might lead to another attack. She pegs a man who claims he's on his way to a medical conference as suspicious but her superior (Robert Forster) makes her drop the issue. Soon, she finds herself targeted for termination. She barely escapes a bomb meant for her and goes on the run in an effort to clear her name, dodge the attacks of a professional hit man (Pierce Brosnan), and prove her suspect is set on conducting a major terror attack.

Survivor never amounts to anything more than a standard chase film in which the question isn't "whodunit" but instead "howshegonnagetoutait." The film valiantly tries to mask its more generalized action elements with a timely narrative that involves someone still suffering after 9/11 and her efforts to prevent another mass-scale terror attack no matter the personal cost to herself, but even then the movie lacks the sort of creativity necessary to inject it with any sort of value beyond cheering on the hero because she's the hero and not because of any sort of added conceptual weight to elevate the material above "trite." The film's storyline never amounts to anything more than a generic driving force to push it from one chase scene to the next, and the movie plays with all of the basic genre scenes, such as the one that calls for "a struggle over the gun, a pull of the trigger, and a few seconds of fake tension as to who was shot in the gut (hint: not the hero, because the scene comes far too early in the movie)." There are plenty of obligatory chase scenes, the emergence of one or two characters the hero can trust, and the gradual reveal of a broader conspiracy at play. It's as if the movie was made to exemplify the absolute middle of the pack for its genre, boasting enough technical resources to rise above the dreck but lacking the creativity to ascend to the top of the food chain.

Fortunately, and beyond its technical polish, the film enjoys the draw of a quality cast to entice audiences to watch. While neither of the film's cover stars -- Milla Jovovich and Pierce Brosnan -- elevate the material in any significant way, their familiar faces and fine-tuned performances, at least within the confines of the movie's trite details and somewhat dull edge, are enough to maintain a baseline sense of agreement and keep the film from imploding at any juncture. The picture further boasts a nice collection of secondary parts played by several strong actors, including Dylan McDermott, Angela Bassett, and Robert Forster. They keep the movie churning along nicely enough, their combined efforts enough to carry the movie to where it neither sinks nor swims but rather scuttles across to the finish line with its head held high enough to earn a passable, midlevel grade.

Survivor doesn't push any limits. Its story lacks creativity, its characters aren't unique or particularly interesting, and its action is as routine as it gets. But it does everything well enough; there are no gaping holes, no glaring oversights. It's a technically sound movie, lacking to be sure but never an embarrassment to anyone involved or the cinematic craft in a broader sense. Audiences should enjoy it well enough given that expectations are kept in check, i.e. never expecting anything more than a modest diversion. In that sense the movie delivers. It's classic "filler," and at the end of the day there's really nothing wrong with that. Alchemy's Blu-ray release of Survivor does boast high quality video and audio. Supplements are limited to a short feature and deleted scenes, about what one would expect from a Blu-ray release of a movie of this caliber. Easily worth a rental or a buy at a low price.

[CSW] -2.9- This is one gritty western. This is not a spaghetti western. It is a well done Danish movie with enough gore and pain to rival any good western. Don't worry about it being foreign-made, or that it stars Mads Mikkelsen. If you like a down and dirty western, just watch it- no spoilers from me on this one.
[V4.0-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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