Jolt (2021)

Directed by: Tanya Wexler | 91 minutes | action, comedy | Actors: Kate Beckinsale, Jai Courtney, Stanley Tucci, Bobby Cannavale, Laverne Cox, Constantine Gregory, Ori Pfeffer, David Bradley, Susan Sarandon, Lewis Ian Bray, Nathan Cooper, Joseph Grogan, Sophie Sanderson, Steven Osborne, Tom Xander, Evan Sharp , Savvy Clement

‘Jolt’ tells the story of Lindy, a female powerhouse with a personality problem. A troubled childhood and past full of medical and social experimentation fueled her anger and violence and fueled a deep-seated aversion to injustice. Lindy grows up to be an above average strong woman who works as a bouncer in a nightclub. But she continues to struggle with Hulkian outbursts of anger that regularly bubble up. To control these manifestations of blind rage, Lindy wears a special electrode pack that suppresses her tantrums. But when one of her few friends is killed, Lindy unleashes her murderous impulses. The goal: ultimate revenge.

‘Jolt’ is a film that taps from different cinematographic vessels. Heavy brawls, dizzying chases, a good dose of humor, a few quirky characters and some scenes that use the laws of physics so boldly that they border on science fiction: these elements are all there and together create a movie full of adrenaline and hard-hitting action that the viewer little room to catch your breath in between.

Kate Beckinsale, who has traded her signature dark locks in this film for a blonde haircut, is perfectly at home in this movie. In the Underworld series she has already shown several times that she holds up well in action films where the (anti) heroine on duty has to fight hard. Although the film certainly has fun and exciting moments and Beckinsale delivers a decent performance, ‘Jolt’ as a whole is a bit disappointing. An important problem is that the film is quite unbalanced. Many scenes seem to have been crammed into the film quite randomly, as if someone came up with an idea at the last minute that the producers and director quickly incorporated.

After a slightly too long intro with voice-over, the film seems to be heading in the right direction: a nice mix of action and humor unfolds that is quite appealing. Think of a lighter version of tough active heels like ‘John Wick’ or ‘Crank’. Unfortunately, after the nice overture, the film quickly degenerates into a sometimes confusing mess of barely developed characters, fleeting revelations, implausible action scenes (for example, it is never really clear whether Lindy has superpowers or is simply driven by an excess of cortisol) and comically intended situations that barely tickle the laughter muscles. Apart from some brief revivals, ‘Jolt’ eventually slams to death like beer in a badly rinsed glass.

‘Jolt’ starts as a promising action film that distinguishes itself from the mountain of mediocre to bad productions within this genre, but unfortunately does not manage to maintain that level. The ending seems to hint at a sequel or prequel, but the question is whether many viewers need this after watching this not terribly bad, but also far from special production.