While Gal Gadot’s lucrative role as Wonder Woman is nothing but certain, there are definitely efforts to build another film franchise around her. From the same studio that released Mission Impossible 7, Skydance has plans that Heart of Stone could be another Netflix action franchise like Extraction. 

Right from the start, there are definitely echoes of Mission Impossible and James Bond movies. It opens in a casino atop the Italian Alps a la On Her Majesty’s Secret Service or The Spy Who Loved Me, complete with a wintry action scene involving parachutes and cable cars. Gadot’s Rachel Stone is initially introduced as a hacker for MI-6, not a field agent like her colleagues Yang (Jing Lusi) and Parker (Jamie Dornan) who insist she ‘stays in the van’ with expert driver Bailey (Paul Ready). But of course, soon we learn there’s more to Rachel than who she says she is.

The big reveal that she’s a double agent is not at all surprising and the plot involves a shadowy organization called The Charter [yawn]… an independent, multinational espionage agency akin to Mission franchise’s IMF, which acts in scenarios ‘where governments fail.’ 

The high-tech gadgetry named ‘The Heart’ is ridiculously over the top, with Q-like techie Matthias Schweighöfer as Jack of Hearts manipulating dozens of floating data viz screens guiding Stone to elude baddies. Think Tom Cruise’s character in Minority Report on steroids! As with most spy action flicks, the movie jumps from one location to the next–Italy, Portugal, Morocco, Reykjavík, etc. An intense shootout is followed by a crazy car/van chase through Lisbon’s narrow cobbled streets with Gadot at the wheel. Then came the big shocker that the threat has been an inside job after all.

Director Tom Harper (who directed a few episodes of Peaky Blinders and Victorian gas balloon adventure The Aeronauts) checks all the boxes when it comes to action sequences, and he’s pretty adept to tackle this genre. The biggest issue is the bland, unimaginative script by Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder, which clearly borrowed from far better spy movies of its ilk. It reminds me a bit of Skyfall (with the villain having a personal connection) and of course, the latest MI7: Dead Reckoning with the powerful, all-seeing AI technology which could be deadly when it falls into the wrong hands.

In terms of casting, Gadot is pretty convincing in action roles, but here she’s been stripped off of the charisma she displayed in Wonder Woman. In fact, I was more intrigued by Lusi’s playful, bad-ass performance in the first act. Her confidence rocking that luxurious fur coat is fun to watch that I wish we see more of her in the movie. Gadot may have the physical prowess to handle big action spectacles like wingsuit skydiving, but she lacks that killer edge I expect from her character, I think someone like Charlize Theron would’ve totally rocked this role. 

Meanwhile, Jamie Dornan is grossly miscast here for the same reason that he lacks a certain ‘danger’ that makes someone unpredictable. Yes, he looks good in a turtleneck and leather jacket but it’s as if he’s about to go on a wintry GQ photoshoot, with nary a hint of menace. Try as he might, I just don’t buy him as the character, I think someone like say Charlie Hunnam (who’s originally cast as the lead in 50 Shades of Grey) would be more believable. In the supporting roles, I’m always glad to see Sophie Okonedo but I also think she deserves so much better than this. This is the first time I ever saw (and heard) about popular Bollywood star Alia Bhatt. She’s quite memorable as the mysterious hacker Keya who’s fortunately not a throwaway character. Lastly, there’s Glenn Close in a blink and you miss it cameo role [shrug]

Despite having large sums of money at their disposal, Netflix just doesn’t have a good track record in terms of big-budget action flicks. Most of them have been such a waste of resources and talents, a concoction of banal storytelling + grandiose spectacles + clichéd characters. The Gray Man was utterly disappointing and Red Notice was an absolute abomination. The female-fronted The Old Guard is the only one well worth my time that warrants a sequel. Alas, I can’t say the same about this one, and at over two hours, it’s at least a half-hour too long.

Spy movies are supposed to be built on intrigue but there’s not much of that to be found in Heart of Stone. Ironically, it is lacking heart as well, the small attempts at empathy made at the end feel more manufactured than organic. As a franchise starter, this Gal Gadot action vehicle fails to ignite.

Have you seen Heart of Stone? I’d love to hear what you think!

///