Unscrupulous mercenaries seize a secret weapon allowing them to break into computer systems and bring the leaders of the planet to their knees. To defeat their evil plan, five spies working for as many national intelligence agencies team up.
Posted at 10:30 a.m.
Simon Kinberg is best known as a producer (Alone on Mars) and screenwriter (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, X-Men – Days of Future Past) than as a filmmaker. With The 355, he is only making his second feature film. The result ? A thriller that has the originality of being feminine without questioning the codes of the genre.
With Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Fan Bingbing and Lupita Nyong’o, let’s just say this cast is tough to beat. In an interview, Mr.me Chastain, who is also one of the producers, defended the project saying that until now, women in spy roles have too often been under or misrepresented, especially as decoys (honeypots).
It is true that here, the five main female characters are at the heart of the story and set the tone every second.
Faithful to the formula of large-scale spy films, The 355 takes us to Paris, Berlin, London, Washington via Shanghai and Marrakech… where the proliferation of cultural and clothing clichés is particularly painful.
Speaking of clichés, the story also surfs on the inevitable misunderstanding between two agents believing themselves to be rivals, the American Mace (Chastain) and the German Marie (Diane Kruger) who practically kill each other before realizing that they work for the same goal.
We will forgive the authors for this lack of originality since overall, this thriller, well anchored in today’s world with its cybersecurity issues, is well dosed with fights, wild races, spurts of automatic weapons , jumps, cold-blooded executions and explosions. All mixed with glam and a few drooling and well-sent replies.
Just take a look at the poster whose background is lined with the flags of many countries to understand the overall idea: these women from different cultures will do everything to save the world.
This is a good, entertaining thriller. We can’t wait to see if the 355 will continue on its way.
In theaters in French and English from February 7
Action movie
The 355 (VF: The 355)
Simon Kinberg
With Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger
2:02 a.m.