The 355 brings together a phenomenal cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, and Sebastian Stan in a spy action flick that follows a typical formula that the audience will find uninteresting.
It’s unfortunate that despite this ensemble of badass women, the story doesn’t do much to capture the viewer’s attention because it uses the same tired plots and double-crosses. Scary piece of technology that falls into the hands of power-hungry men looking to make a fortune no matter who they hurt in the process. While the main story may have fallen flat, each member of this team commands the screen. They even left the ending open to a sequel.
“All of these characters are incredibly brave and cunning, and they all have different motives for doing what they do,” co-writer Theresa Rebeck says. “We were especially attentive to giving their personal stories a kind of complexity that you don’t always see across the board in a spy thriller. It was also fun to explore the many ways women know how to disappear in the world. A lot of power comes out of knowing how to be invisible. These women know how to be seen, and also how to be unseen.”
Director and co-writer, Simon Kinberg says that Chastain was a driving force as a producer and ‘as driven as the character she plays,” which comes across on screen. The women start fighting against one another and then ultimately realize they need one another and each member’s expertise to stop the device from reaching the wrong hands.
Sebastian Stan plays your typical rouge agent that can’t get his ego out of his ass. I didn’t think it was possible to dislike Stan in a role, but here we are. From the very beginning, you can tell that he plans to look out for himself leaving zero empathy for the character by the end of the film.
With The 355 set to hit theaters on January 7th during the highest peak in COVID-19 cases, I foresee this one moving to Theater On Demand quickly.
Synopsis:
A dream team of formidable female stars come together in a hard-driving original approach to the globe-trotting espionage genre in The 355.
When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, wild card CIA agent Mason “Mace” Brown (Oscar®-nominated actress Jessica Chastain) will need to join forces with rival badass German agent Marie (Diane Kruger, In the Fade), former MI6 ally and cutting-edge computer specialist Khadijah (Oscar® winner Lupita Nyong’o), and skilled Colombian psychologist Graciela (Oscar® winner Penélope Cruz) on a lethal, breakneck mission to retrieve it, while also staying one-step ahead of a mysterious woman, Lin Mi Sheng (Fan Bingbing, X-Men: Days of Future Past), who is tracking their every move.
As the action rockets around the globe from the cafes of Paris to the markets of Morocco to the opulent auction houses of Shanghai, the quartet of women will forge a tenuous loyalty that could protect the world—or get them killed.
The film also stars Édgar Ramirez (The Girl on the Train) and Sebastian Stan (Avengers: Endgame).
‘The 355’ Brings an All-Star Cast to a Sub-Par Formula Spy Film
Summary
The 355 brings together a phenomenal cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, and Sebastian Stan in a spy action flick that follows a typical formula that the audience will find uninteresting.
