Cleaner
review by Bobby Blakey
Director Martin Campbell has an impressive resume in the action genre with films including Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro, The Foreigner, The Protégé and more. Now he is taking on yet another entry into the genre with his latest film Cleaner starring Daisy Ridley, Taz Skylar, and Clive Owen. Could this film bring the expected action, or will it get left hanging on the side of the building?
Cleaner follows a group of radical activists who take over an energy company's annual gala, seizing 300 hostages in order to expose the corruption of the hosts. Their just cause is hijacked by an extremist within their ranks, who is ready to murder everyone in the building to send his anarchic message to the world. It falls to an ex-soldier turned window cleaner, suspended 50 stories up on the outside of the building, to save those trapped inside, including her younger brother.
Ridley has had a great run of films since wrapping up her first run in the Star Wars franchise. To my knowledge I believe this is her first foray back into action of sorts so was eager to see how she would be able to handle it. We know she can do action, but this film is different than wielding lightsabers. She does a great job handling the action and is the standout to the film that it otherwise pretty by the numbers and one you have seen a thousand times over.
The cliche villains and familiar story that borrows from films like Die Hard, that have done it much better, manages to work with what it has without breaking any new ground. There is a whole side story between Ridley’s character and her brother that I guess is meant to add depth to her story, though it doesn’t serve much of a purpose. They both play into the story and even the action later but could have done it numerous ways and still worked.
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The story itself is simple and to the point with the reasoning of the terrorist take over kind of slim, but fine, I guess. Ridley spends most of the film hanging outside of the building, which offers a unique approach to the story and builds some tension. Once back inside and the last act action kicks off its faster paced and at times kind of rushed. As mentioned, the action that is here is decent enough with some good fight scenes, but nothing we haven’t already seen.
This was not a bad movie by any means and works because it walks on the line of the familiar without standing out otherwise. It’s a decent enough action film so decide for yourself and check out Cleaner in theaters now from Quiver Distribution.