I didn't see any trailers or images of this film before seeing, I just literally heard who the leading actress was and that it had something to do with a firefighter, so I looked forward to being surprised and hopefully entertained. Basically, Hannah Faber (Angelina Jolie) is a smokejumper (a wildland firefighter) who is haunted by the tragic memory of failing to save three young campers and a fellow smokejumper who all got trapped and died in a forest fire a year ago. She is now posted in a fire lookout tower in Park County, Montana. Meanwhile, forensic accountant Owen Casserly (Jake Weber) sees on the news that his boss and his family have been killed in an apparent gas explosion. In fact, they were murdered by assassins the Blackwell brothers, Jack (Aidan Gillen) and Patrick (Nicholas Hoult). Believing he is next to be targeted, Owen goes on the run with his son, Connor (Finn Little), to hide with his brother-in-law, Deputy Sheriff Ethan Sawyer (Jon Bernthal), also Hannah's ex-boyfriend. Driving to Ethan's cabin, Owen and Connor are ambushed by the Blackwells, who force them off the road and down a cliff. Owen is gravely injured, he gives Connor evidence against the Blackwells' employer, mob boss Arthur Phillip (Tyler Perry). He tells Connor to give it to someone he can trust, Connor escapes the crashed car before the assassins shoot his father dead. Ethan discovers Owen's car wreck. Meanwhile, Hannah is forced to abandon the watch tower during an electrical storm, she is lucky to escape before lightning strikes the power. The following day, she stumbles upon Connor while walking through the woods. Connor is reluctant to trust Hannah, but she convinces him to accompany her back to the tower to contact help. Arthur has heard the reports about Owen being killed, but nothing about the boy, he instructs the Blackwells to hunt Connor down and kill him. To distract the police from searching for them, the assassins use flares to ignite a forest fire. They go to Ethan's house believing Connor may have fled there. There they find and interrogate Ethan's pregnant wife, Allison (Medina Senghore), but she fights them off and escapes. Returning to the tower, Hannah finds the radio and all power has been disabled by the lightning strike. Connor feels he can trust Hannah and shows her the evidence he was given by his father, and she insists that must head to town on foot. The storm continues while they are crossing a field, during which Hannah survives but is injured being struck by lightning. They are forced to turn back seeing the increasing fire ahead blocking their path. Ethan returns home with the Sheriff (Boots Southerland) after having been alerted by Allison in a call that something is wrong. The Blackwells kill the Sheriff and force Ethan to guide them through the woods. The Blackwells and Ethan reach Hannah's tower. Ethan is forced into climbing up to it and searching while the Blackwells watch from a tree. Having returned to the tower, Hannah and Connor hide while Ethan attempts to make it appear empty. However, Patrick sees Ethan talking through his rifle telescope, and the assassins start shooting into the tower, injuring Ethan. Hannah and Connor manage to escape. The Blackwells try to follow them but are stopped when Allison, having tracked them down, starts shooting at them. Patrick and Jack split up, with Patrick going after Hannah and Connor. Jack stays and tries to kill Allison, but she kills him. Connor runs ahead while Hannah distracts Patrick, but seeing Patrick beating Hannah he runs back to help her. Patrick approaches Connor to kill him, but Hannah struggles with him, until he is severely injured. The blaze is quickly moving through the forest, so Patrick is left to burn to death in the approaching fire. Allison reunites with Ethan at the top of the tower, but they are trapped by the fire. They put on oxygen masks and hold each other as it surrounds them. Hannah and Connor jump into a river and watch from under the water as the fire engulfs the forest. The following morning, after the fire has burned out, the survivors are saved when Hannah's old smoke-jumping team arrives to rescue her and Connor. Meanwhile, Allison survived, but Ethan died from his earlier injuries. Later, Connor prepares to give his father's evidence to the media and Hannah promises to help him through his uncertain future. Also starring James Jordan as Ben and Tory Kittles as Ryan. Jolie gives an interesting performance as the somewhat flawed but reliable firefighter, Gillen and Hoult are impressive as the sinister killers, Little is a rising talent, and there is good support from Bernthal and Senghore. It is a very simplistic story, a father and son on the run, killers hunting them down and a woman drawn into helping the boy whilst also tackling fires, but you are drawn into it by its characters and its tense moments, a worthwhile action thriller. Good!
Review of Those Who Wish Me Dead
