Review: Unlocked (2017)

Directed by: Michael Apted | 98 minutes | action, drama, thriller | Actors: Noomi Rapace, Orlando Bloom, Michael Douglas, Toni Collette, John Malkovich, Matthew Marsch, Makram Khoury, Brian Caspe, Philip Brodie, Tosin Cole, Michael Epp, Tom Reed, Raffaello Degruttola

Unlocked is an action thriller about a CIA agent created according to the paint-by-numbers principle. You can recognize almost all elements of the plot from similar films. The traumatic experience of the protagonist that makes it impossible to function properly? Check. The strong personal bond with a mentor / father figure? Seen! The seemingly impossible, very urgent assignment for which the protagonist seems to be the only designated person? Present! And let’s not forget: characters who appear to be dead, but later in the film turn out to be secretly alive and well and who have been fooling the hero of the story all along. Unlocked has it.

That does not detract from the fact that this film by Michael Apted looks away. Always a valuable addition to the cast, Noomi Rapace easily plays the role of the vulnerable, yet hard-hitting Alice Racine. More than 20 people were killed in a terrorist attack in Paris two years earlier. Although she is not directly at fault – she could not possibly have prevented this attack, she still carries this heavy burden on her shoulders. She now works undercover as a social worker, relaying information about illegal and potentially dangerous people to MI5. But then she is asked to help with an important case. A courier who was supposed to deliver important information to a terrorist organization has been imprisoned and she must get the information out of him.

What then unfolds is a fairly predictable adventure in which no one seems to be trusted and Alice herself is also suspected. The cast – with resounding names of Toni Collette, Michael Douglas, John Malkovich and Orlando Bloom – is good, but can’t hide the shortcomings in the screenplay. Although the makers try to keep the viewer on the edge of the seat, after the strong first half hour it doesn’t work anymore, because you see every plot twist coming. ‘Unlocked’ never gets bad, but it doesn’t want to rise above mediocre. If you don’t mind, but want to be entertained with a movie whose story you can’t retell after a week, ‘Unlocked’ isn’t a bad choice.