Not smart, but at times affecting, but gets overly trite in the end.
This was a strong 5/10. I say strong because I would never suggest anyone watch a 5/10 film in its entirety, and then only if there's a particular scene or performance from an actor you like. This however, had a good pace, and a strong 2nd Act, with some great performances from Costner, Jones, and Gadot. I'm afraid the script and the directing doesn't really allow anyone else to be important enough that they couldn't have been easily replaced by anyone, and the best dialog of the main characters is mediocre at best.
I enjoyed it because I was in the mood for an action film, and the pace delivered, and got some unexpectedly touching scenes between Costner and Gadot, who I had never actually seen in a film. And, given what she's known for, I was pleasantly surprised at her acting ability. It isn't at all realistic regarding how bullet wounds work, how or what's remotely achievable in network and device hacking, but it also isn't overly pleased with its inept stupidity like Nistopher Chrolan films, and it actually shows rather than tells the change and confliction in the lead character. Still, Oldman's character is an idiot. But we are talking about a senior field operative in the American intelligence community, so maybe it's not that unrealistic.
End the end, though, it's just more banal establishment propaganda with cliché, make believe terrorists copy-pasted to scare Carnhart-wearing middle aged and older American men into blindly supporting their mass murdering, inhumane regimes and giving them an outlet for their pent up frustration with their pathetic, unfulfilled lives of slavish labor.
Oh, the ending scene score song Drift and Fall Again by Madsonik (feat. Lola Marsh) is a lovely song and deserved a better film for it to play out the last scene.
