Rating: **
Review Date: 2/23/25
Director: Martin Campbell
Cast: Daisy Ridley, Taz Skylar, Matthew Tuck, Ruth Gemmell, Clive Owen,
Flavia Watson
Joey Locke's (Daisy Ridley) life sucks. She has a shitty job working for shitty people who do shitty things, and is always in trouble because she has to take care of her special needs autistic brother (Matthew Tuck). One night she ends up working late at her window cleaning job, and a group of terrorists attack a fancy party being held by a couple of rich corporate douchebags. Hostages are taken and the situation quickly degenerates when the terrorists lay out their plan. Meanwhile, trapped on the outside of the building, Joey desperately tries to get inside so she can use her military training to save the hostages and take out the terrorists. Thankfully, a surprisingly competent and levelheaded police superintendent (Ruth Gemmell) is around to help and doesn't immediately shoot her down.
Unfortunately, the film has more heart than sense, and really just boils down to nasty people doing nasty things to each other. The rich assholes are the obvious bad guys, and while you want to side with the eco-terrorists, their leader is so violently extreme, unhinged, and psychotic, that you really want to see him die a horrible death. So it's a no-win situation where you really don't care about the outcome. The only likable characters are Joey and the superintendent, and the only tension in the film is hoping that Joey makes it out alive.
It's tempting to make comparisons to "Die Hard" (1988), but the only thing they have in common is a high-rise setting. It starts out really rough, and I seriously contemplated leaving the theater after the first twenty minutes, but I stuck it out hoping to see Daisy Ridley kick some butt. It's a slow burn, but a couple of late-game fight scenes finally spice things up towards the end. Sadly, like most lower budget action films, there's more drama than action, and the action is average at best. The prologue is unnecessary and the entire brother subplot only drags down the story with needless dramatic filler.
Daisy Ridley gives a delightful and convincing performance, but the studios obviously had no faith in the film because it got such a small release. I was surprised and a little sad that I was the only one in the theater on opening weekend, but to be fair, it really does feel like a "direct to video" production. It's a mystery why Clive Owen is in the film, other than to collect an easy paycheck for a few minutes of screen time. However, I have to give credit to the film's trailer for not giving everything away. It's deceptive for sure, but doesn't contain any spoilers. The film has a poignant and socially relevant message to impart, and while its heart is in the right place, the tone is off and it's difficult to enjoy.