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After assembling some of the most talented and electrifying actresses on the planet, “The 355” wastes their talents in a generic and forgettable action film that lacks any originality.
Jessica Chastain is one of them, and as one of the film’s producers, she has been involved from the beginning of the project. It’s simple to see what the appeal is in this situation: A glamorous and globe-trotting spy thriller in which women are given the opportunity to work together, kick asses, and save the day for once in their lives. One of the overarching themes of “The 355” is the way in which these characters are able to break free from the oppression of condescending mansplainers and actually get things done in their lives. This dynamic doesn’t require you to be a stunning secret agent in order to relate to it.
But that notion is just one of many aspects of Simon Kinberg’s film, which is directed and co-written by him, that come across as frustratingly half-baked. With the exception of a couple of character traits, these women don’t reveal much about themselves, and the few occasions when they do reveal something deeper or more substantial about themselves are brief. The action sequences, which form the backbone of any film of this nature, are unsatisfying in their muscular physicality. Slow-motion camerawork and quick edits obscure the intricate choreography and planning that went into staging the elaborate chases and fight scenes, making these sequences more irritating than exciting.
Even the costume design falls short of expectations. With Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, and Penelope Cruz, you have four actresses with significant skill and range, who also happen to be stunners who can pull off any type of wardrobe choice with grace and style, regardless of the occasion. It is unfortunate that “The 355” does not take advantage of the opportunity to dress these women in show-stopping ensembles as they travel from city to city, which would have enhanced the sense of glittering escapism that the audience experiences. Bingbing Fan, the film’s fifth star, is only present until the very end of the film, despite the fact that the film’s marketing would have you believe otherwise.
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What they’re all after is the most inconsequential of plot twists in the script from director Simon Kinberg (“X-Men: Dark Phoenix”) and television writer Theresa Rebeck (“NYPD Blue,” “Smash.” An encrypted data key on a flash drive has the ability to create mayhem with just a few keystrokes: it can shut down power grids and destabilize financial markets, launch nuclear weapons, and send satellites tumbling out of the sky. It doesn’t really matter what it does because it’s the event that sets the plot in motion, but it’s a particularly uninspired piece of bad-guy schtick. As a result of its amorphous nature, you never really feel the threat of its potential harm.
To begin, Chastain’s fiery CIA operative, Mason “Mace” Brown, and her partner, Nick (Sebastian Stan), pose as newlyweds in order to meet with the Colombian intelligence agent who possesses the device in Paris, which they do (an underused Edgar Ramirez). In the film, Chastain and Stan, who previously collaborated on “The Martian,” are supposedly best friends who are secretly in love with each other, but they have no chemistry. Instead, Kruger, in the role of badass German operative Marie, intercepts the package, setting off one of the film’s many dizzying action sequences. Mace enlists the help of a former MI6 colleague, the brilliant hacker Khadijah (Nyong’o), to track down the location of the device. Cruz, who plays Dr. Graciela Rivera, a Colombian psychologist, is also dragged into the fray; implausibly, she is sent into the field to track down Ramirez’s character and return him to his family.
The 355 Quiz
Later on in the film, it becomes clear that all of these women will have to put their differences aside and work together to locate the device: “If they get this, they will start World War III,” Mace tells Khadijah in one of the film’s many, many instances of convoluted exposition. But first, there’s a fistfight between Mace and Marie over some frozen seafood, which isn’t nearly as entertaining as it sounds. It is impossible to imagine a more awkwardly staged or shot scene than the one in which they all stand around, screaming inane dialogue and pointing guns at each other before reaching an uneasy détente.
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One of the most egregious sins committed by the film is the way it wastes Cruz’s commanding presence and ability. She portrays a frightened fish out of water who is eager to get home to her husband and sons as soon as possible. She is then asked to be cowering and meek, which are not exactly her strong suits, as if her character’s inclusion in the story wasn’t already a slap in the face.
But there are a couple of scenes that show how much better “The 355” could have been if it had been directed differently. After winning a battle, they all gather around a campfire to drink beer and tell war stories, and the growing sense of camaraderie on display makes you wish there was more of it in the world. Aside from the fact that they are rejecting their male-dominated organizations and finding themselves on their own, the idea of them relying on one another for survival is intriguing—sort of like a more violent version of “9 to 5.”
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“James Bond never has to deal with the realities of everyday life,” Mace says to Khadijah at one point in the film. With her response, Khadijah moves closer to something resembling real and relatable human experience. “James Bond always ends up alone,” Khadijah observes. Embedded somewhere in this film is a germ of the idea that first drew Chastain to acting in the first place: examining the sacrifices women often make when they prioritize their careers over their families, and chasing the alluring fantasy that we can have it all. The relentless and drum-heavy score returns, overwhelming everything, and the action shifts back to the next shootout or explosion in the background.
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The film is currently showing in theaters.
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