Reviewed By: Flickman
I don’t think Wildcat deserves the 3.8 rating it has on IMDb. It’s not a great movie, but it’s also nowhere near unwatchable. I’d put it around a 4.7. It’s something you can sit through without much pain, just not up to the level audiences expect these days. I also get the sense that a lot of people are more focused on how Kate Beckinsale looks than on the film itself.
The story follows Ada, played by Beckinsale, whose daughter is kidnapped. To save her, and her younger brother, who’s the reason they’re in trouble to begin with, she has to pull off a heist. It’s a very straightforward plot and nothing we haven’t seen plenty of times before.
Even though the basic idea is simple, the movie does a poor job selling Ada as a former special forces black-ops soldier. The script leaves out way too much important character background that would have made her skills, and the entire story, more believable. Instead, the film jumps all over the timeline: straight into the heist, then back 10 years, then 10 days, then 10 hours. It’s chaotic in a way that doesn’t add much, all happening within the first few minutes. The entire heist is basically over right away, and the film shifts into a rescue mission for the remaining hour and a half.
Still, there were a few things I genuinely appreciated. For once, someone actually misses a knife throw instead of pulling off a perfect ninja move. There’s also a moment where Roman (Lewis Tan) shoots a propane tank and guess what, it doesn’t explode, it just leaks. Little touches like that are rare in action movies and make things feel a bit more grounded. If Hollywood did that more often, a lot of big-budget movies would feel more believable.
I’ll keep this review short because I don’t have a ton to say, but I genuinely don’t think the movie deserves the hate it’s getting. It’s not good, and I’ll never rewatch it, but it didn’t make me want to turn it off either – which is more than I can say for a lot of films. The action helps carry the weaker storytelling, but everything else falls flat. The music is terrible and often doesn’t match the scene, and the acting is far from impressive. You’re definitely not getting the same Kate Beckinsale who showed up in Underworld.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend Wildcat. But if it’s late, you’re bored, and you just want something new to fill some time, it’ll do the job. You won’t be amazed, but you might be entertained enough to get you to bedtime — and that’s a very strong might.
Overall Verdict: Not a great movie by any means, but it will do the job to kill some time. It's better than the current extremely low score it has on IMDB.
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