Movie Review: COLLIDE (2016) Starring Nicholas Hoult and Felicity Jones

Director: Eran Creevy
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Felicity Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Kingsley, Marwan Kenzari, Aleksandar Jovanovic
Runtime: 99 min
Rating: PG-13 for violence, frenetic action, some sexuality, language, and drug material
Purchasing Links: DVD, Blu-ray

Read the review after the jump.

COLLIDE

Review by Popa Razvan

The action thriller "Collide" has a behind-the-scenes history that is far more complicated than its plot. Due for release in 2015, the film was delayed when Relativity Media went bankrupt. The film went back on the market and eventually landed at Open Road Films and was delayed once again throughout 2016. By the time it opened in February 2017, it was obvious that nobody knew what to do with the film, so they just dumped it in a not-so-crowded time of the year. To no one's surprise, it tanked at the box-office. The truth is, after seeing it myself, its just not a movie that needed to be made and released in theaters. It's the most direct-to-DVD movie I've ever seen.

It's not an unwatchable film, though, just completely forgettable. Here's what it's all about. Nicholas Hoult stars as Casey, an American living in Germany, who works for Geran (Ben Kingsley), a drug dealer who's been sampling too much of his own stuff and has a special love for American films and Burt Reynolds. Casey meets Juliette (Felicity Jones) at a rave, they fall in love, and he quits his dangerous job. Trouble makes its way into paradise when Juliette learns that she needs a kidney transplant that would cost $200,000 Euros. Casey returns to his life of crime and his first job is a heist directed at Germany's top drug dealer, Hagen Kahl (Anthony Hopkins). As always, it doesn't go according to plan, and Casey finds himself on the run from Kahl's men and racing to save Juliette who has also become a target.

Collide Movie Nicholas Hoult and Felicity Jones

Throughout the film I kept wondering why writer/director Eran Creevy and co-writer F. Scott Frazier didn't go all the way and name the protagonist Romeo. There's a reference to the star-crossed lovers, and the film keeps hammering the idea of how romantic and possibly doomed Casey's struggle is. It would have at least made things interesting in a Baz Luhrmann kind of way. The movie aims for crazy, but only goes half-speed with it. Outside of that, it just plows through its action movie tropes without much consideration for anything other than the many slick cars our hero keeps changing throughout. Most of them don't even get wrecked. It's a continuous publicity stunt for all the new shiny car models. The story also gets some twists in, but while they're not entirely predictable, they don't stand up to closer scrutiny, either.

The stunts are pretty decent. There are quite a few car chases and they're pretty well done, although don't expect "Mad Max" levels of vehicular mayhem. This is, after all, a small budget film. It gets enough action in and never gets boring, although you hardly feel any kind of connection to Casey and his suicide mission. It's also pretty well shot, giving the action a shiny look that feels more like the director is self-promoting for a better gig. In a way it's very similar to the dreck that Luc Besson has produced in the last couple of years, serviceable and good-looking, but completely forgettable action flicks.

Acting-wise, the movie is decent enough. Hoult and Jones are fine, although the latter doesn't get much to do for about 90% of the movie. In my opinion these two clearly talented actors should have spent more time together on screen and in the middle of the action. Unfortunately Jones is reduced to a plot device. Hopkins and Kingsley, on the other hand, ham it up something fierce for every minute they're in view. It's the kind of performances that would kill a better movie, but here at least they provide some much-needed color.

"Collide" is your typical paycheck film. Everybody got paid, everybody's happy. The only way I would recommend this movie is if you're looking to waste some time. Catch it on TV, or something. Make sure you don't have anything better to do. Otherwise, it's 90 minutes of your life that you'll never get back.

TRAILER

THE VERDICT

THE GOOD:

Hoult, Jones, Hopkins and Kingsley make it all bearable to various degrees.
Good stunt work and some okay action.

THE BAD:

Forgettable and unoriginal plot
Absurd third act twist
Not enough action and vehicular mayhem for a movie titled "Collide"
Low budget limitations

ENTERTAINMENT FACTOR SCORE: 50%

Entertainment Factor

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Thursday, June 29, 2017

Movie Review: COLLIDE (2016) Starring Nicholas Hoult and Felicity Jones

COLLIDE

TRAILER

THE VERDICT

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