This movie does not bring much to the table. I watched it, expecting some mediocre adventure story with some Indy-like stuff going on. You know, an ancient mystery, some sort of hero saving the day and a great background. Instead everything simply felt fake. Especially Bullock can barely hide her disinterest in the movie and there were actually only two scenes where she convinced me: The interview scene, where she did not have to hide her disgust in this job and the short conversation with Trainer.
The movie falls flat on all other aspects:
The movie could have worked if the details would have been better fleshed out. If there was actually something to translate (not just 5 Wing-Dings-symbols on a piece of cloth), if the couple would have had something going on between them, if the villain would not simply chase some McGuffin; if the dangers (volcano, the villain, the guns) would have felt more real and if the dialogs would actually lead somewhere.
At least the Trainer was some kind of highlight, but even Pitt could not mask the pure silliness of the movie. Even his death felt like: "Guys, please, I don't want to do this anymore. Could you please kill off my character." I am glad they did. His death was the only real surprise.
The movie falls flat on all other aspects:
- The villains act stupid in all regards. Radcliffe is a terrible villain and his story makes no sense at all. None of their actions are explainable.
- Tatums character development from dumb to hero is poorly executed - he jumps from plain stupid to a fine-witted, attentive reader from one second to the other (and back again);
- It's often cringy to watch Bullock and Tatum trying to act out the "we should now fall in love" part. Bullock tries to be the hot chick, but she knows she is too old and too fed up for this job and Tatum knows he's only there because of his body. It's pretty sexist too.
- The jungle environment feels constantly fake and as a placeholder to make the events possible in the first place.
- Even the motorbike chases were weird and ridiculous and it all looks similar to the Jurassic Park sequels, just without dinosaurs. I hate action scenes where the viewer does not know who is where and what is going on, and this movie is a good example for this sort of "action". Why is it not possible to make convincing chases with at least some sense of position?
The movie could have worked if the details would have been better fleshed out. If there was actually something to translate (not just 5 Wing-Dings-symbols on a piece of cloth), if the couple would have had something going on between them, if the villain would not simply chase some McGuffin; if the dangers (volcano, the villain, the guns) would have felt more real and if the dialogs would actually lead somewhere.
At least the Trainer was some kind of highlight, but even Pitt could not mask the pure silliness of the movie. Even his death felt like: "Guys, please, I don't want to do this anymore. Could you please kill off my character." I am glad they did. His death was the only real surprise.