Jolt (2021) Review

This film was originally slated for a theatrical release but Amazon realised that nobody would go to watch it so put it on their streaming service and I watched Jolt this morning and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a woman with medical anger issues have to go on the hunt when a man she falls for disappears. 

Main Character

Kate Beckinsale plays the main character here and she is the best part of the film as she is really trying to carry this film on her back. She takes the poor material given her and gives this interesting protagonist that I actually ended up rooting for, despite the weak motivations. I'm not sure if there is a future for her in a franchise like this but hopefully we see her in more roles like this in the future. 

Supporting Characters

Stanley Tucci is in this film and what more is there to say, he is great because even in the worst films he usually delivers and he does here. Some of the best scenes in the film are between Beckinsale and Tucci and its a shame there weren't slightly more. Jai Courtenay plays her romantic interest and he isn't in the film much but he just doesn't do it for me, unless he is throwing a boomerang like in The Suicide Squad I am just not interested in him and find him really bland. Bobby Cannavale and Laverne Cox play cops after her and they just offered very little, they were basically comic relief and considering that the comedy is really bad in this film it means their characters are bad. 

Story 

The story really hampers the film, it is just incredibly messy and ruins a somewhat interesting idea. I knew it was going to go wrong when there is this really awful exposition narration and it just continues with characters having poor motivations and confusing twists that just don't make any sense. The film overreaches and spends way too much time with elements of the film that aren't interesting at all and it ends up killing the film. 

Script

The script though is the weakest part of the film, the dialogue is so bland with the drama not hitting any emotional notes or make you really care. The humour is way overplayed and it is just really bad with somebody writing this who had no idea how humans interact by forcing humour that is really out of place. 

Style 

The action in the film is okay, there are some decent pretty brutal action sequences and the film doesn't overstay its welcome with its length and the pacing is pretty good. But the action isn't standout, and there just aren't any memorable action scenes making it a pretty forgettable experience. 

Overall

Overall, Jolt is a below average action film. There are so many action films these days that are just forgettable and this is another one with no standout reason to watch apart from Tucci and Beckinsale giving good performances.

Rating - 4/10