Jessica Chastain

John Malkovich

Common

Colin Farrell

Geena Davis

Jess Weixler

Ioan Gruffudd

Diana Silvers

Joan Chen

Efka Kvaraciejus

Christopher J. Domig

Michel Muller

Dieter Riesle

Aramis Merlin

Michael Guarnera

Bruce-Robert Serafin

Jeff Bellin

Martin Lee

Constantin Tripes

Ronald Woodhead

Simonne Stern

Steve Gagliastro

Nadezhda Russo

Joe Sobalo Jr.

Catherine Virginia Patterson

Victoria Diamond

Lin Hult

Ben Bunnag

Charles Coan

Andresito Germosen De La Cruz

Annie Pisapia

Marisa Defranco

Chris J. Faria

Ineke Garbacz

Silas Archer Gustav

Benjamin Healy

GeGe Jackson

Levon Panek

Omar Khan

James L. Leite

Rob Lévesque

Kimberly Mae

Cassidy Neal

Rickland Powell

Dannielle Rose

Carissa Roy

Sheila Salaverry

Yefim Somin

Scott Sederquist

Alexandria Tait

Susan Halsey Singer

Uliana Tabaka

Brian Tobin

Lauren Mary Kim

Donna Evans

Babacar Diene

Matthew Newton

Dominic Rustam

Nicolas Chartier

Kelly Carmichael

Jonathan Deckter

Tate Taylor

Jason Fyrberg

Stephen Turro

Mallory Thompson

Molly Hughes

Emily Aragones

John R. Kaplan

Brett Robinson

Michael Dynice

Will Arnot

Gui DaSilva-Greene

Narine Garibyan

William Earon

Erika Hampson

John Norris

Megan Coates

Stephen Goldblatt

Zach Staenberg

Neely Eisenstein

Bear McCreary

Lindsey Weissmueller

Linda Cohen

Nancy Kirhoffer

Steve Cooper

Patricia Klawonn

Mariarosa Calderon

Frank M. Fleming

Peter D'Angelo

Carolyn Volta

James Sanderson

Josef Boreland

Devin Charette

Andrew Dehlinger

Fletcher Zona

Joshua Manning

Robin Chalfin

David Allen Cluck

Ramses del Hierro

Barry F. Hite

Niko Diaz

Catherine Scott

Zachary Brown

Greg Gonzalez

Lindsey Kethan

Will Files

Rory Brett

Cara E. Rhodes

Christopher Love

Guy Holt

Ian Halter

Roya Semnanian

Pamela Peabody

Ralph Wilber III

Zara Park

Julia Solomon

Rachel Goldman

Aaron Kahl

Ashley Troiani

Isabel Riley

Molly Oliver

Michael Caizzi

Marina Clarke Paolino

Josie Colt

Ranjani Brow

Aaron Emery

James Tolman

Stephen Goudreau

Henry Tomkins

Chengwei Zheng

Yuri Shubenin

Ashley Skomurski

Sunkyu Park

Joey Montenarello

Kerri McGill

Laura Carnegie

Julie Arvedon Knowlton

Vivek Shelke

Bojan Zoric

Matt Blackshear

Christopher Abdon

Brandon Trotter

Julia Garrison

Daniel Lee

Stephanie Lapointe

Brandee Wyse

Peter Braeley

Eric Covello

John Ruggieri

Toshiko Miura

John Dinh

Action

Thriller

Crime

Freckle Films

Voltage Pictures

Vertical Entertainment

United States of America

Deutsch

English

Français

assassin

secret organization

murder

female assassin

professional assassin

secret

thriller

Adam Rife

This movie started out really slow, the middle was really slow and the end was predictable and slow, nice to see Gina Davis but if you want a decent movie watch something else.

**Overall Score: 4.6/5, 4.5/5 Stars, 9/10 Stars**

It's rare when you buy a movie unseen an end up enjoying it.  I have always been a fan of Jessica Chastain, so when I saw a new movie with her in it, I knew I had to at least give it a shot.  When I saw that it was inexpensive on VUDU, I figured why not just buy it.  And I have to admit, I'm glad I did.

**Storyline: 4/5**.  Jessica Chastain plays Ava, an assassin working for a mysterious company who doesn't really appreciate the fact that she talks to her targets.  When she begins questioning herself, she goes home to see her family and ends up in a struggle for her life.

**Characters: 4/5**. Ava is the main focus of the movie, but we also get introduced to her mother, sister, ex-boyfriend, and handler throughout the movie.  Each has their own issues with Ava, but the one closest to her is Duke, her handler and trainer.  Her mother is in the story for really no reason than backstory for Ava's character.  The sister, Judy, is a little more involved with her overall and might be the closest thing to a full secondary character.  The ex-boyfriend, Michael, comes in a close third.  There is no deep character connections in this movie, but the characters all do a good job moving the story forward.

**Direction:  4/5**. I do not think I have seen any movies by Tate Taylor before, but he's done a few movies that I never cared to see, so this is my first experience with him.  Overall, he's not a bad director.  He has a good eye for how a movie should be filmed, he doesn't use any crazy camera movements to show action, and overall I was happy with how he made the movie.  I had no real problems with his sense of direction.

**Casting: 5/5**. I love when a movie has a good cast.  Jessica Chastain, Geena Davis, Common, Colin Farrell and John Malkovich are always good in whatever roles they are given.

**Acting: 5/5**. What makes a good movie to me is when you lose the actors in their roles.  There were times when this did not happen in the movie, but it was very rare.  For the most part, I believed everyone as the parts they played and not as the actors playing them.

**Music: 4/5**. The music in this movie isn't the type I would download the soundtrack for, but it did its job in blending in without being a distraction, giving scenes that little extra *umph* they would need.

**Cinematography: 5/5**. One of the most annoying things in recent action movies is the use of shaky-cam to give a feel of action.  Thankfully, this movie did not use that.  Scenes were shot well, and lighting was always perfect. 

**Production Design: 5/5**. There did not seem to be too many built sets in this movie, which really helped because I'm sure this movie probably did not have a large budget.  The sets they used were used well and helped bring the story together.

**Pacing:  5/5**. This movie did not drag like I was expecting it to.  It moved a little slow but not at a pace where I kept wondering when the movie was going to end.  Scenes seemed to be the perfect length to keep the story going without rushing through them or taking too long to get through.

**Enjoyment:  5/5**. To me, how much I enjoy a movie is one of the most important factors.  I enjoyed this movie a lot.  It was a good spy-assassin thriller with a low enough budget that not too many chances could be taken so the story had to come through.  I debated on whether my enjoyment was 4/5 or 5/5, and it might change in the future, but for now, I really did enjoy this movie.

Kamurai

Great watch, will likely watch again, and do recommend.

This is probably one of the best assassin movies I've ever seen ("Smokin' Aces", "Kill Me Three Times" and "Hanna" come to mind as others),  the best thing it does is be refreshing, normally when a "character comes home after a long time away" trope happens, it's all about re-integrating, and how that affects the family, and it becomes a dark dramedy about dysfunctional families.

I'm not saying it doesn't to that, to a degree, but it does it in a spectacular way, and keeps it brief.  It would actually be a solution to the main adversity of the movie, but because the premise is that she drags her work home with her, it's all about survival.

Jessica Chastain, Colin Ferrell, and (especially) John Malkovich do an amazing job on rather down to Earth (if a bit psychotic and brutal) action sequences.

While there is a lot going on around the story, the real focus, and it's worth it, her just trying to live through the organization she joined which she knows has to end in either her or the company's death.

I do feel like the worst of it is just that Diana Silvers sort of got sidelined, but I'm hoping that the sequel will focus on her quite a bit.

**special mix**

Double Scotch, but ice?! Well, some like it.

Part of the story is standard thriller fare by now - the professional assassin becoming hunted. Some over-the-top action scenes there.
Another part is the dysfunctional but caring family, with guilt, remorse, love, drama. Well played, but it's an unusual combination with the assassin story; and this special mix will appeal to some people - but my guess is: not many.
Good actors giving good performances, solid work from other departments. But I don't think script and direction were bringing their A-game. 

The part I liked best were the close combat parts. These were worth watching, IMHO - the exhaustion that sets in, no matter how trained people are; well played, choreographed, and the make-up+fx departments did a good job as well.

I can't recommend this in general; you need to have some special taste to enjoy it. In which case, have fun. And you may like "Hummingbird (2013)".

This movie was great for entertainment, the action was there, and the story was believable, although sometimes a little strange. All in all, I would watch this again. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ava | Official Trailer (HD) | Vertical Entertainment

Ava( 2020)

Kill. Or be killed.

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A review by Adam Rife

Written by Adam Rife on Fri Sep 11 2020

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