ALARUM

[L-R] Scott Eastwood as “Joe” and Sylvester Stallone as “Chester” in the action crime thriller ALARUM, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

When someone asks me if I want to watch a movie featuring Sylvester Stallone, my standard answer is, “Of Course!” After the Rocky and Rambo franchises, I’m willing to give his movies a chance. This time, however, I found myself asking how long was left and constantly checking my watch against the 95 minute runtime to see if it was almost over.

Is ALARUM a bad film? Not necessarily – it just isn’t a good film. It is definitely an “Oh look, there’s a Stallone movie on this free streaming service” type movie. It had recognizable names, but felt like a low budget film. Actually, that’s unfair to low budget films, this felt like a no budget film. However, it’s unfair to jump straight into the bad, so let’s talk about the good.

The good comes from the cast. The film has typical action flick casting and the acting is exactly what I would expect based on that. That is to say that the cast does a good job with their roles and they are believable in their roles. There wasn’t a single point when I questioned the films acting and Eastwood and Stallone were great on screen together. Similarly, Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald were great together and had fantastic chemistry, I didn’t doubt them as a couple once. The only weak spot in the performances was Mike Colter and it pains me to say that. His performance was fantastic other than the accent. After loving Colter in Luke Cage, it was a struggle to watch him with the accent.

That brings us to the rest of the good… the action. If you just want a popcorn action flick without any real point, then you’ll probably enjoy ALARUM. Fitzgerald has an incredible fight scene that I really enjoyed, it was also the only time I laughed during the entire film and they worked hard to get that laugh. If you want explosions, big guns, and a whole lot of kicking ass, then you’ll probably have a good time. If you want a good plot, then you might want to look elsewhere.

Which brings me to my biggest complaint about the film. The writer and director clearly had a story in their head and, based on the film’s conclusion, they also have a sequel ready to go. What they lacked, however, was a credible way to tell that story for the first 60 or so minutes of the 95 minute film. They did a poor job of setting up the story and communicating the details. By the end of the film, you have most of the details you need to have the story make sense, but they make you really work to put the story together. Again, if you just want explosions and guns, this may not matter to you… and, as I said, it does work itself out… it just takes a while to do that and you’re left enjoying the movie less than you would if you were given the information up front.

You may notice that I’ve tagged this as an action flick, but the genres listed below include crime and thriller. I believe the lack of storytelling was an attempt to create a thriller, but it was never fully realized. A thriller isn’t a movie where pieces are withheld, it takes a lot more than that and the effort to create a true thriller just wasn’t there. As for crime, I reject that this was a crime film in any way… this is a pure action movie and if you go in accepting that, you’ll start off in a better place.

My other complaint? The CGI was atrocious at times, particularly the muzzle flashes that were added. Instead of looking like muzzle flashes, it looks like the guns momentarily produce Dr. Strange’s shields. There were other minor problems, but that was the one that really stood out. The sound quality, at times, had similar issues and I found myself rewinding the film more than once to turn up the volume and try and decipher what was said. This was particularly noticeable at the end of the film with the last few lines, the actors were almost impossible to hear.

Will I watch ALARUM again? No. Am an upset that I watched it? No. I had to set aside my expectations that this was an “action crime thriller” and, by the end, when the plot was finally realized, I thought it was an interesting story. If there was a sequel, I would watch it. However, I would get an outsider who wasn’t explained the concept first to sit down and review the script before filming the sequel… just to make sure that the story makes sense and the viewer doesn’t feel like there are missing pieces for no reason.

ALARUM was released in theatres, on digital, and on demand on Friday, January 17.

ALARUM

Movie title: ALARUM

Movie description: Academy Award® nominee Sylvester Stallone, Scott Eastwood, Mike Colter, and Willa Fitzgerald star in this explosive action-thriller about two married spies caught in the crosshairs of an international intelligence network that will stop at nothing to obtain a critical asset. Joe (Eastwood) and Lara (Fitzgerald) are agents living off the grid whose quiet retreat at a winter resort is blown to shreds when members of the old guard suspect the two may have joined an elite team of rogue spies, known as ALARUM.

Date published: 2025-01-17

Director(s): Michael Polish

Actor(s): Scott Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, Willa Fitzgerald, Mike Colter, Isis Valverde, Joel Cohen

Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller

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