Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)

Directed by: Taylor Sheridan | 100 minutes | action, drama | Actors: Angelina Jolie, Finn Little, Jon Bernthal, Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult, Jake Weber, Medina Senghore, Tyler Perry, Boots Southerland, Tory Kittles, James Jordan, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Howard Ferguson Jr., Ryan Jason Cook, Laura Niemi

As a firefighter in the forests of the state of Montana, Hannah (Angelina Jolie) is traumatized when she sees three children fall victim to the scorching blaze during a firefighting operation. She pushes her pain out on a daily basis and seems to fit in well with her bravado colleagues as ‘one of the guys’.

One day, when Hannah is on duty in the watchtower meters above her precinct, the fire is once again thrown at her in the most literal sense of the word. Where she couldn’t be a savior last time, she now gets a second chance thrown into her lap and she grabs it with both hands; protecting young Connor (Finn Little) from Mother Nature and two unscrupulous mob hitmen (Nicholas Hoult and Aidan Gillen) who target his father Owen (Jack Weber).

It has been eleven years since Angelina Jolie appeared in action films such as ‘Salt’ and ‘The Tourist’ and the 46-year-old actress has certainly not forgotten the stunt work. Nicholas Hoult (“Warm Bodies”, “X-Men”) plays one of the hitmen who, oddly enough, have no shortage of ammunition. His character is flat. Stoic and little deepened where we should expect more. Another actor who does stand out, on the other hand, is the young co-star Finn Little (‘Storm Boy’, ‘Tidelands’). His portrayal of a terrified boy is very thorough and small, and that is a welcome boost for the credibility, which is at times somewhat compromised.

‘Those Who Wish Me Dead’ in itself does not rise above a typical contemporary American action film, because the storyline is wafer thin and – as mentioned – not very realistic from time to time. Fortunately, this shaky script is more than compensated for by tightly directed action, CGI and stunt work that we know from director Taylor Sheridan from his previous rock-solid blockbusters like ‘Sicario’ and ‘Hell or High Water’. Do you like a reasonably exciting action film laced with ‘in your face’ violence and a natural disaster? Then this movie is definitely worth watching.