JLo rubber stamps her claim to a “I could have been your Lara Croft” campaign. She slightly falls short of it… This film has some triggering scenes for parents!
The Mother follows a nameless woman who is a skilled assassin who finds herself in a situation in which she needs to come out of hiding to protect her daughter who she gave up when she realized they wouldn’t be safe together. We are left with little information. Film kicks off with her in negotiations with the FBI to keep her protected from some unnamed assailant who eventually attacks them and kills everyone in the house but she manages to fend him off. We then have a big time jump and told the baby has now grown up is adopted by a family whilst Mother lives out in the wilderness alone. The assailant has got word of this and gone after the child and this is where Mother needs to come out of retirement and protect her child who has no idea who she is.
Jennifer Lopez is in her action bag here. Being a veteran in the field (pun intended) she puts on a stellar performance as a no smiling, skilled killer. She captures the emotions brilliantly and really sells the character. Lucy Paez is new on the scene, a rising star, who has now been next to JLO in her first big hit. Thats a lot of experience and substance to soak in. She delivers as the bratty teen who just refuses to listen named Zoe. I imagine wasnt that much of a hard role. Joseph Fiennes plays the big bad Adrian. He’s a man of few words but he pulls of the devious, sinister villain. Omari Hardwick takes on a side role with minimal screen time but he does what he does well. Just busy chasing hispanic women LOOL.
There is a scene that catches you way off guard and can be very triggering, it includes a womb and a knife. Do the maths!
The film does not shy away from the gruesome and gore. There are some good kills to see but surprisingly enough it does feel short of action. A bulk of the film is of Mother teaching Zoe to the ways of the killer and just defend herself. Some strong acting chops displayed whilst deploying those tough love scenes. They ricochet off each other well despite the zero resemblance as mother and daughter LOL. Jennifer does well in some scenes to showcase the apparent PTSD plaguing her. You feel her worries, her concerns. They then translate into and combined with what would be her natural motherly instincts. Its actually all well played out. The whole exhibit of now being forced to be the mother she never wanted to be in the midst of a mini war creates that tension and anxiety feeling of “whats going to happen next”. A mother would usually be teaching their child how to braid hair but here shes taught how to use knives, hunt etc. The movie is centred around a mother looking after her cub and this is even depicted in the movie via some wolves. As much as the 2 gel well together on screen they manage to show that natural disconnect of a mother and daugher that havent been around each in years.
Its a decent movie with a good beginning, middle and not so much end. The build up to the finale is better than the finale itself. Its a poor climax littered with poor CGI and lucklustre action. The final fight isnt even worth the journey. The story has some empty plots which to be frank by the time you get to the end you dont even care and are just glad its over. However JLO shows she can handle the tough choreography required for a high profile action flick and perhaps maybe we will see herrrr… in maybe the MCU or the Wick universe… who knows? You can choose to skip this or watch it, just lower your expectations if you decide to.
What did you think of JLO not being the damsel in distress? Is she ready for the big action flicks? Was Adrian Zoe’s father? What was the beef between them? All felt a bit random… React and comment below…
