Ghosted
Bland, boring and completely devoid of redeeming features, this undoubtedly expensive cash grab can be summarily defined by its sequence of cameos: redundant, boring, nonsensical and completely without chemistry or believability.
American farmer Cole (Chris Evans) falls head over heels for the enigmatic Sadie (Ana De Armas). But when he chases the self-proclaimed art dealer to London in a romantic / stalkery gesture, he discovers her secret; she’s a CIA agent. A case of mistaken identity leads to Cole becoming the target of the villainous Leveque (Adrien Brody), and while this puts him in danger, it also gives him the opportunity to secure a dangerous weapon. Cole and Sadie have to team up and learn to trust one another to save the world, and themselves.
It is shocking that Ghosted is directed by Dexter Fletcher. The British director who delivered such a colorful, engaging and surprising biopic on Elton John in Rocketman, and indeed stepped in to save Bohemian Rhapsody after its original director was ousted due to his onset behavior (we’ll blame the foibles of that terrible film on its original director, and the fact it even made it to cinemas on Fletcher), here eschews his penchant for witty dialogue, characters that we emotionally relate to, and colour filled spectacle. Instead, he delivers a film that is grey, in every possible area; from the feel nothing action, to the feel nothing romance, to the completely baffling colour grade.
Chris Evans is the standout here. Initially feeling completely out of place, as the film progresses the vein we’ve seen him in - that stalwart superhero Captain America type - for the last few years melts away, and we get back the rom-com Chris Evans of old. It’s a welcome surprise.
But the only one in the film.
Ana De Armas is on complete cruise control here. You can sort of see what they were going for here - a gender-flipped version of the Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz starrer Knight and Day - but they’ve missed the mark wildly. De Armas may have the fighting prowess and spy creds of Cruise, but nowhere close to the star power. Evans, too, doesn’t match the wattage of Diaz back in the heyday.
But it doesn’t stop there. There’s the series of egregious, utterly disinteresting cameos from everyone from Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan to Ryan Reynolds. The shitty looking VFX and seemingly volume-shot central European locations. The gag-worthy dialogue. The farming family completely miscast.
Ultimately, this movie can only be described as a complete disaster. It’s a blemish on the creative careers of every person involved in it.
