“The Amateur” criticism: anti-bond in the slightly different agent thriller

Rami Malek is really not a prison and looks rather inconspicuous, but it is better not to irritate him-and who wants to lie down with a former Bond villain? In the agent thriller “The Amateur” he plays the computer nerd Charles Heller, who works as a decoder for the CIA, but has absolutely no idea about melee technology.

However, when his wife (Rachel Brosahhan) is murdered by terrorists in London, he develops into a dangerous opponent, because he knows only one goal: revenge at all costs. And since he has a light mind, he takes advantage of the fact that a high IQ of brutal muscle strength is superior at all times. Charles leaves his calm basement and starts a revenge campaign that will lead him around half the world – against the will of his superiors.

The value of life

When it comes to everyday agents and realism, the “Bourne” series has already emerged. But there is still very often fighting and killing. “The Amateur” goes one step further instead – or rather: take a step back. While killing appears as a matter of course in a typical action thriller, which you almost do on the side, the value of life is really valued here and we have what it means to wish someone to death. When Charles actually faces his wife's murderer, this showdown is completely different than one could predict.

The exact opposite for 007

Realism is also offered if we are allowed to follow the detective work of the decoder – this Charlie looks like a contemporary Sherlock Holmes when he analyzes camera images and also elicits the most inconspicuous notices. He seems to have been born for this pure office job, because as soon as he deviates from the routine, it is physically reflected in him. As soon as he went to his superiors on a confrontation course and has presented their demands to them, he takes up the excitement so much that he has to hand over in the parking lot immediately afterwards.

Something like that would never have happened in life. Malek is actually an absolute anti-bond in this role-and that's a good thing. He has nothing to do with firearms, he can only assert himself against an already weakened woman, and he is not a Womanizer anyway – there has to take the initiative's widow and lie down on the sleeping couch to cuddle next to him.

Fishburn as a man for the rough

Malik offers a great performance here and actually raises the human -shy self -sparkling and spun hobby with every small and cautious gesture – and if he has to process the news of his wife's death, we suffer with him. In this film, however, the men for the rough are Laurence Fishburne, who can also put the only hard fight in a hotel laundry, and Jon Bernthal, whose agent appears cautiously, but exudes a hardly suppressed dangerousness and the bond ideal comes closest (what else can you expect from the Punisher?).

Director James Hawes was inspired by a novel by Robert Littell and stages a slightly different agent thriller, which is solid, exciting, surprising and excellent. The film has what it takes to continue and we are happy to see Charles Heller again if he has not lost his amateurous charm until then.

4 '#^~RPV* (4 out of 5 decoded secret points)