You always have to go in precautious when it comes to films released in January. It is known as a month where studios drop their awful to less inspiring films since it is typically a slower time at the movies with holidays being over. There is typically a horror sequel in there (Scream 5) and a generic action picture. The 355 is that generic action picture. Just your typical, mediocre, bland action story you have seen many times that has the potential to entertain you at the moment and then quickly leave your mind once complete.
The 355 follows Mace Brown, a secret agent who teams up with two international secret agents and a psychologist when a top-secret weapon falls into the hands of a group of bad guys. All of the women must put their differences aside to travel from country to country trying to stop these mercenaries and save the world. All this is happening while a mysterious figure is tracking their every move, trying to get one step ahead of them. If that plot sounded confusing, it really isn’t when you watch it. They just describe it to be much more complicated than it is. A big issue with this film is its convoluted and predictable plot. You know where it is going from the beginning because it is very obviously telegraphed. You have seen this story before. A character disappears for a while only to come back. Someone appears to have turned only for them not to. Nothing is fresh or new here so you wonder what the point of all this was. There is the one really harrowing scene at the beginning of the third act that did make me feel something for the characters, but then it is quickly brushed aside and we follow in our own footsteps again.
Getting back to the January of it all, I should have known something was up walking into this. A film starring people such as Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Sebastian Stan, Lupita Nyong’o, and Diane Kruger should be primed for a summer or fall release and it fell in January. All these actors carry films on their own and we threw them all in here together to get a whole lot of nothing. Simon Kinberg is someone who has been around the film industry for a long time who is a very successful writer and producer. His first feature directorial effort in Dark Phoenix should have been a red flag. You have an X-Men film that has no style of substance. The 355 just feels like a non-superhero version of that same thing. Kinberg has no touch on the film and as a result, it just feels bland. After seeing two of his directing efforts now, I think it is time for him to take a step back and allow someone else to direct his films. You have a worldwide trekking adventure with these big-time actresses, I can only imagine how this might be in the hands of a filmmaker who has something to say.
As mentioned before, The 355 is full of top-tier talent. Jessica Chastain at one point I considered being one of the best actresses alive. She was electric in everything she was in, but lately, she seems to have gotten away from that. It is like the 2021 Dallas Cowboys who started hot at the beginning of the season, only to look lackluster on offense the past couple of months. Meaning, I know you have it in you to be great because I saw you do it, so just do that again instead of this weird new stuff you’re trying. That is Jessica Chastain. Penelope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o, and Fan Bingbing are all in the same boat. Talented performers who are so much better than the material they are given and ultimately don’t do much with it. Sebastian Stan wins the Judd Hirsh award for the person who is in a different movie. He goes full Pierce Brosnan Bond villain in this that is way over the top, and you wonder what direction he was given. Everyone here is jogging in a film that should be sprinting.
The 355 is one of those films you are going to forget came out this year come March. It has some cool action sequences, but even that can’t raise the level of this film to memorable. The entire thing just felt like wasted talent from top to bottom and the term “gave it your all” doesn’t apply here. It is not bad, but it is not particularly good either.