THUNDERBOLTS* : Tuesday 13th May 2025

I saw the PG Rated 'THUNDERBOLTS*' earlier this week, and this American Superhero film is the 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and serves as the final instalment in Phase Five of the MCU. This film is Directed by Jake Schreier who made his Directorial debut with 'Robot & Frank' in 2012 and would follow this up with 'Paper Towns' in 2015. Since then he has helmed numerous TV series including multiple episodes of  'Lodge 49', 'Kidding', 'Brand New Cherry Flavour' and 'Beef' as well as music videos for the likes of Benny Blanco, Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Kendrick Lamar. This film saw its World Premiere screening in London on 22nd April and was released in all major markets from 1st May. The film has generated positive critical reviews, and has so far grossed US$280M from a production budget of US$180M. 

The film opens with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) sitting with her feet dangling over the edge of a tall skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She stands and promptly launches herself off the top, parachuting down about half the length of the tower before gliding inwards and stepping gently off about fifteen stories from the bottom. Once inside, she sets about destroying a laboratory on behalf of CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to cover up her involvement with the O.X.E. Group's 'Sentry' superhuman experimentation project. 

As de Fontaine faces imminent impeachment for her work with O.X.E. Group, she separately sends Yelena, John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) to a secret O.X.E. facility buried a mile underground atop a remote mountain, under the pretense of killing a thief. In the ensuing confrontation, Ava kills Taskmaster and a mysterious man named Bob (Lewis Pullman) is released from a suspended animation pod in the room. 

After coming to the realisation that they were sent by de Fontaine to be incinerated along with any evidence of her misconduct, they put their differences aside and work together to escape from the deadly trap. De Fontaine learns from her Assistant Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan) that the group has survived, including Bob, who was presumed dead during the Sentry trials. When she arrives at the site, the team have made it to the surface, and so Bob creates a diversion by drawing fire from de Fontaine's small but heavily tooled up army, allowing Yelena, Walker, and Ava to escape, only to sustain no injuries despite being shot at close range multiple times. Bob then uncontrollably ascends high into the air before passing out and crash-landing back at the compound, where he is captured and helicoptered back to the former Avengers Tower in Manhattan, which is mid-way through a serious make over and is now renamed the 'Watchtower'. 

De Fontaine intends to introduce Bob to the press as a super-powered protector akin to the Avengers, hoping the PR stunt will avert her impeachment. Meanwhile, Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian (David Harbour), who had overheard details of de Fontaine's plot while working as a freelance chauffeur, rescues Yelena, Walker, and Ava. Referencing Yelena's childhood soccer team, Shostakov refers to the group as the 'Thunderbolts'. 

De Fontaine's agents chase after the Thunderbolts before they are ultimately caught and tied up by Bucky Barnes aka Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), whose intention it is to have them testify at de Fontaine's impeachment hearing. Learning that Bob was a subject of one of de Fontaine's top-secret experiments, Barnes joins the group to head to New York to infiltrate the Watchtower. The Thunderbolts discover that de Fontaine has convinced Bob to join her side as a new superhero she plans to pitch to the media as a replacement for the Avengers called the Sentry. 

After easily overpowering the team and forcing them to retreat, Sentry develops a god-like delusion of superiority, turning on de Fontaine. However, Mel, incapacitates him with a failsafe kill switch. This triggers the emergence of the Void, Bob's destructive alter ego and the embodiment of his depression and insecurities created as a result of the procedure and his fractured psyche, who begins engulfing New York City in supernatural darkness, trapping its citizens in pocket dimensions based on their worst memories and fears.

Yelena realises that the only way to stop the Void is from within, and so she enters the darkness to reach Bob's consciousness. There, she faces her haunted past as a Black Widow and finds Bob hiding in a recreation of his childhood bedroom, where his father abused him. The other Thunderbolts join them, and together they travel back through various 'rooms' ultimately to the memory of Bob's initial experimentation in Malaysia, where he volunteered for the procedure, hoping to improve himself after becoming an aimless drug addict. The Thunderbolts confront the Void, but are quickly overpowered. As the struggle threatens to fully consume Bob, the team intervenes, affirming their belief in him. Their solidarity empowers Bob to regain control, overcoming the Void as light and normality return to the city.

With the threat now past, the Thunderbolts are all set to apprehend de Fontaine. However, she manipulates public perception by staging a press conference in which she introduces them to the public as the 'New Avengers'. The Thunderbolts go along with this, but Yelena threatens de Fontaine if she betrays them again. Remain in your seat for a mid-credits sequence which really is something and nothing, and for the end credits sequence which gives a nod to 'The Fantastic Four : First Steps' the upcoming 37th entry in the MCU and the start of Phase Six, and set for release at the end of July this year.

I was pleasantly surprised by 'Thunderbolts*' with its rag tag bunch of ne'er do wells that are all damaged, traumatised and emotionally scarred in some way that makes them vulnerable and more relatable than some of the other characters we have seen in more recent MCU offerings. It was also somewhat reassuring to see an MCU film grounded in the present day NYC rather than going off on some tangent and taking us deep into the multiverse as has been the want lately, or at least so it seems. Florence Pugh holds the team together and hers is the standout performance in what Director Jake Schreier has pulled together as a coherent, concise and controlled entry into the MCU, while setting up Phase Six of the MCU. The action sequences are well realised and don't overstay their welcome, and there is enough emotional heft and well delivered humour here to make this a well balanced film. 

'Thunderbolts*' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

CAPTAIN AMERICA : BRAVE NEW WORLD - Tuesday 18th February 2025.

I saw the M Rated 'CAPTAIN AMERICA : BRAVE NEW WORLD' earlier this week, and this American Superhero film is based on the Marvel Comics character Sam Wilson / Captain America, and is the fourth instalment in the 'Captain America' film series, a continuation of the TV miniseries 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' and the 35th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). This film is Directed and Co-Written for the screen by Julius Onah in his fourth feature film Directing outing following 'The Girl Is in Trouble' in 2015, 'The Cloverfield Paradox' in 2018, and 'Luce' in 2019. The first three films in the 'Captain America' film franchise - 'Captain America : The First Avenger' in 2011, 'Captain America : The Winter Soldier' in 2014, and 'Captain America : Civil War' in 2016 grossed US$2,238B at the global Box Office from combined production budgets of US$560M, making this fourth offering a no brainer. That latter film ended the 'Captain America' trilogy starring Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, and Sam Wilson becomes the new Captain America in 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'. This film forms part of Phase Five of the MCU, was released here in Australia and the US last week, has so far grossed US$205M off the back of a US$180M production budget, and has generated mixed or average critical reviews.

The film opens on US Presidential Election night and a triumphant Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) takes the microphone to thank the American people for voting him in, and stating that they can achieve great things 'together'. We then fast track five months and Ross sends Sam Wilson/Captain America (Anthony Mackie) and Joaquin Torres/Falcon (Danny Ramirez) to Oaxaca, Mexico to thwart the illegal sale of classified items stolen by the Serpent Society, a rogue special-ops team led by Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito). The pair successfully recover the items, but Sidewinder escapes. Following the mission and back on home soil, Wilson and Torres both train with Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a super soldier who was imprisoned and experimented on by the US government for thirty years, and his existence kept a secret, even from the former Captain America.

Ross invites Wilson and Torres to a summit with world leaders at the White House, and Wilson accepts on the condition that Bradley is also invited. Ross asks Wilson to help him reform the Avengers. During the summit, Ross explains that a new metal, adamantium, has been discovered on 'Celestial Island', which was formed when the Celestial Tiamut partially emerged in the Indian Ocean, and was petrified by the Eternals. The recovered items were the first refined samples of the metal and were stolen from a Japanese mining operation. To avoid an arms race, Ross proposes a treaty to govern adamantium's mining and worldwide distribution. As he is talking, the 1959 song 'Mr. Blue' by The Fleetwoods, plays and causes several men, including Bradley, to begin shooting at Ross and other gathered dignitaries. Apprehended by Ross's Security Advisor and former Black Widow Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas), the men come to their senses and deny any knowledge of the attack.

While investigating, Wilson is ambushed by Sidewinder. Wilson over powers and captures him. Torres tracks a call on Sidewinder's phone to a hidden black site in West Virginia called Camp Echo One. Ross tries to keep the treaty alive, but the Prime Minister of Japan Ozaki (Takehiro Hira) blames him for the theft of their adamantium and the subsequent White House attack. Ross realises that the mastermind of these events is Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), who gained advanced intelligence after being exposed to Bruce Banner's blood during the Abomination's rampage through Harlem. Ross imprisoned Sterns at Camp Echo One, publicly blamed him for the Abomination's actions, and promised to release him if Sterns helped advance him to the presidency. Wilson and Torres find Sterns and learn how he uses technology and the song 'Mr. Blue' as a mind control tool. He escapes while they are fighting mind-controlled soldiers.

Bat-Seraph investigates Camp Echo One herself and helps Wilson and Torres. They meet with Wilson's military friend Dennis Dunphy (William Mark McCullough), who has Sidewinder in custody. Wilson learns enough from Sidewinder to deduce Sterns's plan to destroy Ross's reputation. Wilson, Torres, and Bat-Seraph go to Celestial Island where Ross and the Prime Minister Ozaki are racing to claim ownership of adamantium. 

Sterns controls the minds of two American pilots who attack the Japanese fleet. Wilson and Torres intercept the fighter jets and convince the Japanese to stand down. Torres is shot out of the air and plunges into the Indian Ocean, critically injured. Ross tells Wilson that he is dying of heart failure and had Sterns develop pills that have prolonged his life. Ross refused to release Sterns for fear that he would no longer make the pills, leading to Sterns seeking revenge.

Sterns kills Dunphy, preventing him from calling Wilson and explaining that the pills, taken one at a time three times a day, have been adding gamma radiation to Ross's body. At the hospital, where Wilson is watching on as surgeons restart Torres heart, he is consoled by his friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Sterns later surrenders himself to Wilson. During a press conference on the White House Rose Garden, Ross loses control of his emotions and transforms into a red Hulk, and destroys part of the White House. Wilson rushes to stop him. 

Unable to overpower Ross, Wilson attempts to calm him down by reminding him of visits to Washington, D.C.'s cherry blossom trees with his estranged daughter Betty, when she was much younger. The two fight until they can fight no more, and Ross reverts to his normal self. Later, Bradley is exonerated, Wilson invites a recovering Torres to join the Avengers, the treaty is ratified, and work has begun on repairing the damaged White House. Ross resigns and has himself incarcerated at the Raft (an underwater maximum security prison located in the Atlantic Ocean), where Wilson and Betty (Liv Tyler) visit him. 

'Captain America : Brave New World' is an OK entry into the MCU canon - it's not great but it's also not that bad either. Anthony Mackie/Sam Wilson is a more than acceptable replacement for Chris Evans/Steve Rogers even though he is a mere mortal and doesn't posses the super powers that the latter had, but he still has the wings, the suit, the shield and that gadgets that help him get by. Harrison Ford chews up the scenery, especially when he transforms into Red Hulk and looks as though he's having a blast, and there are some parallel's to be drawn here with the current presidential administration too. As for the two villains in the piece - Sidewinder and Sterns, they are largely under utilised and really serve as mere McGuffin's to move the story along. Whilst the action set pieces are well choreographed as we have come to expect from the MCU, the CGI at times leaves much to be desired, especially in the case of the cherry blossom scene in which Cap and Red Hulk go head to head and toe and toe in close quarter combat - so obviously computer generated that the techies must have been asleep at the wheel the day they programmed that sequence! 

'Captain America : Brave New World' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

A DIFFERENT MAN : Tuesday 12th November 2024

I got around to seeing that MA15+ Rated 'A DIFFERENT MAN' earlier this week following its release in Australia on October 24th. This American dark comedy psychological thriller film is Written and Directed by Aaron Schimberg in only his third feature film outing following 'Go Down Death' in 2013 and 'Chained for Life' in 2018. The film saw its World Premiere screening at this years Sundance Film Festival at the end of January, was released Stateside at the end of September, in the UK in early October, has so far grossed US$1.2M and has generated largely favourable reviews.

Here, Edward Lemuel (Sebastian Stan) is a struggling Actor with neurofibromatosis that manifests itself as a disfiguring facial condition. He lives in a ramshackle old apartment block with seemingly paper thin walls and floorboards and a constant dripping of black water through the ceiling in his lounge room. One day a new neighbour takes up residence, Ingrid Vold (Renate Reinsve) who is an aspiring playwright, and is working on her first theatre production although it is still early days. It doesn't take long before the pair get acquainted and Edward starts to have feelings for Ingrid, although he is way too nervous to have those feelings manifest themselves. 

He is offered a cutting edge yet still experimental medical procedure to cure him of his disfigurement which he reluctantly agrees to. Sometime later the disfiguring tumors, lumps, bumps and lesions on his face literally begin to melt away and fall off in large clumps revealing his natural healthy looking face underneath. He takes on the identity of Guy Moratz and claims to his doctor, who makes a house call to check on Edward's progress, that Edward has died suddenly by suicide, and that he is a family member who has called around to clear out Edward's apartment. This conversation is overheard by Ingrid. 

Some time later, Guy is now a successful and wealthy real estate agent. One day, he discovers that Ingrid is producing an off-Broadway play she has written called 'Edward', that is based on his life. Guy auditions and is cast in the lead role. Guy and Ingrid begin a sexual relationship soon thereafter, though Ingrid remains unaware of his real identity. During rehearsals they are visited by Oswald (Adam Pearson), a man with neurofibromatosis who has taken a keen interest in the play. The confident and charismatic Oswald quickly befriends the cast and crew, although Guy is somewhat put off by his outgoing and overly positive manner.

Ingrid and Oswald grow closer, and after Guy is unable to recite his lines, she decides to recast Oswald in the lead role. The play is a success, and Oswald's performance receives very positive reviews. Guy's mental state begins to deteriorate, and he begins stalking Oswald, is fired from his real estate job, and eventually storms the stage of the play one night to physically attack Oswald. During the on-stage scuffle, part of the set collapses on top of Guy breaking his legs and arms. While he recovers from his injuries he moves back into his former apartment next to Ingrid, who is now living with Oswald and making plans to adapt Edward into a film with movie Producer Michael Shannon. One day, after Guy's physical therapist expresses disgust for Oswald behind his back, Guy stabs him with a kitchen knife and is jailed. 

Years later, after Guy is released from prison, he comes across a billboard promoting Ingrid's most recent play. He once again encounters Oswald. He has dinner with Oswald and Ingrid at a Japanese restaurant. The pair are now very happily married and a highly successful creative duo who are planning their retirement to a commune in Canada, after Ingrid comments that she has achieved everything in life she ever really wanted - parenthood, a happy marriage and a successful career. A waiter arrives to take their orders, but a visibly nervous Guy struggles to choose from the menu. Oswald comments that he hasn't changed a bit.

'A Different Man' is part 'Beauty and the Beast', part 'The Elephant Man' and part 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' all wrapped up in a modern day story of accepting who and what we are and living with the consequences of our actions. This film has body horror, thrills, drama, emotion and laugh out loud moments courtesy of both Stan and Pearson who give their all to their respective performances. This is a thought provoking absorbing story that will leave you thinking long after the credits have rolled, with the main message left by Writer and Director Aaron Schimberg being that you can't judge a book by its cover!

'A Different Man' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

DUMB MONEY : Tuesday 7th November 2023

I finally got around to seeing the MA15+ Rated 'DUMB MONEY' after my three week sojourn in the UK. This American biographical comedy drama film, which was released here in Australia on 5th October, is Directed by Craig Gillespie whose prior feature film making credits take in his debut with 'Mr. Woodcock' in 2007 and 'Lars and the Real Girl' also in 2007 and then 'Fright Night' in 2011, 'Million Dollar Arm' in 2014, 'The Finest Hours' in 2016, 'I, Tonya' in 2017 and 'Cruella' in 2021. This film is based on the 2021 book 'The Antisocial Network' by Ben Mezrich, and saw its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September and was released in the US in limited theatres a week later before expanding into a wider release on 29th September. The film garnered generally favourable reviews and has so far grossed US$17.5M against a production budget of US$30M.

Keith Gill (Paul Dano) is a lower middle class man working as a financial analyst for MassMutual in Brockton, Massachusetts. During his spare time, he maintains a watchful eye on the stock market subreddit r/WallStreetBets, and posts his opinions on it via YouTube live streams under the name Roaring Kitty, with the disclaimer that he is not offering financial advice. He struggles to provide for his wife Caroline (Shailene Woodley) and his young child, and has a net worth of about US$98K. His presence on his home based YouTube channel is constantly being mocked by his brother Kevin (Pete Davidson) as nerdy rubbish. 

In June 2020, following the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Keith notices that video game retailer GameStop's stock is falling and sinks more than half of his life savings (US$53K) into buying stock in it, frequently live streaming updates with his followers. 

Despite Kevin, and Keith's colleague Briggsy (Deniz Akdeniz) claiming this is a waste of time and money, by January 2021, activity on r/WallStreetBets reveals that several hedge fund investment firms, including Melvin Capital Management and its founder Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen), have been short selling stock in the chain on the assumption it would close, causing a mass increase in GameStop's overall stock price when online retail mum and dad stock buyers, including struggling nurse Jennifer Campbell (America Ferrera), GameStop retail employee Marcos (Anthony Ramos), and lesbian college couple Riri (Myha'la Herrold) and Harmony (Talia Ryder), start aggressively buying up stock, causing Plotkin and other investment CEO's to lose hundreds of millions of dollars within the same timeframe, and Keith to be heralded as a financial sensation.

Things take a turn for the worse when r/WallStreetBets is temporarily shut down for 'inflammatory and vulgar content' (even though that had been the way for years), causing a mass surge of panic selling in GameStop's stock in an attempt to beat a perceived price drop. When the commission-free stock trading website Robinhood is unable to adequately pay the US$3B for the sales, co-chairman Vlad Tenev (Sebastian Stan), at the behest of Citadel owner and multi-billionaire Ken Griffin (Nick Offerman), places a freeze on all purchasing of GameStop's stock in an attempt to drive down the price. 

The play ultimately works, but the subsequent negative backlash results in an investigation by the United States House Committee on Financial Services, with Tenev, Griffin, Plotkin, and Keith all being subpoenaed, the former three for their roles in the fiasco and the latter on suspicion of using the situation to trick the public into making himself rich. As the investors struggle to defend their actions, Keith adamantly denies any wrongdoing in the hearing on 18th February 2021, saying 'I did not solicit anyone to buy or sell the stock for my own profit' and further stating that he was only doing what anyone with a passing awareness of investment banking would do in that situation, while concluding that 'I like the stock', by which time his initial investment of US$53K had turned into a personal fortune of US$48M all largely off the back of GameStop. 

In the months that followed, pre-credits text shows how several of the individuals were impacted, namely Plotkin was forced to shut down Melvin Capital because of the net losses the incident caused; Robinhood was the target of several lawsuits following the fiasco and wound up with its IPO starting in the stock market significantly lower than it was prior; Harmony was able to use the money she obtained to pay off her family's debt issues and continues her relationship with Riri; Marcos sold half of his GameStop stock and quit his position in the company; Jennifer remains marginally in debt but has retained her shareholding; Keith retired from YouTube in late April to get out of the public eye and sold a small portion of his now US$33M fortune to buy Kevin a brand new red Porsche 911 as a way to stop his nagging about how he will not loan him his car for his food deliveries work. Kevin still calls him a nerd however.

'Dumb Money' is a compelling story mainly because it fell in such recent times that just about all of us with the remotest interest in the stock market will remember the events that unfolded around GameStop and the events that came to pass as part of the zeitgeist of the pandemic era. The acting is on point here with particular nods to Dano and Davidson, and this cautionary tale is dramatic, humorous and entertaining and you can't help but be carried along by the stories of the little people beating the mega rich of Wall Street at their own game. The term 'dumb money' BTW was coined by Wall Street for retail mum & dad investors, whereas 'smart money' is used to describe institutional, or professional, investors. The film also stars Vincent D'Onofrio, Clancy Brown, Dane DeHaan and Olivia Thirlby. 

'Dumb Money' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard out of a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

DESTROYER : Wednesday 27th March 2019.

'DESTROYER' which I saw this week stars Nicole Kidman playing 110% against type in a much talked about role the likes of which we have never seen her play before, and, she delivers in spades. Directed by American film and television Director Karyn Kusama who's previous film making credits take in 2000's highly acclaimed debut 'Girlfight' and thereafter 'Aeon Flux', 'Jennifer's Body' and most recently in 2015 'The Invitation'. 'Destroyer' saw its World Premier screening at the Telluride Film Festival back in late August last year, saw its US release on Christmas Day, and now its gets a go in Australia last week. The film has garnered generally positive Reviews, has so far recouped just over US$5M of its US$9M production budget, and has received two award wins and another twelve nominations from around the circuit including a Golden Globe, a Satellite and an AACTA nod for Best Actress for Kidman.

As a young cop, Erin Bell (Nicole Kidman) went under cover with her former partner Chris (Sebastian Stan) to infiltrate a gang in the California desert with tragic life changing consequences. Bell continues to work as a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department, but feelings of bitterness and remorse leave her down trodden and overtaken by guilt. As the film opens we see Bell coming around from a night of sleeping rough in her car under a viaduct - woken by the nearby sound of skateboarders practising their jumps. She saunters in a half stupor to the crime scene to be greeted by two other Detectives looking over a dead body face down with three bullet hole exit wounds in its back. After a brief exchange of less that friendly words between Police Officers, Bell turns and walks away saying that she knows who the murderer is.

Back at her Police station, Bell receives in the mail a $100 bill half marked in purple dye from an exploding dye pack. Using an old contact at the FBI who seemingly was responsible for sending her deep undercover almost twenty years ago, she is able to confirm that the $100 bill hails from an armed robbery by the Californian gang that she and Chris were embedded in back in the day. She advises her superiors that the bill and the dead body found earlier, are all the proof necessary that the gang's leader Silas (Toby Kebbel) is back on the scene, still active, and picking up where he left off.

To learn of Silas's whereabouts Bell must sift her way through the remaining gang members - gang members that she and Chris were once close with, but all of whom have now gone their separate ways. She begins with Toby (James Jordan), serving time in prison but released for compassionate reasons and now living with his mother serving out his time at home on his death bed - for he has terminal cancer and has only a matter of weeks to live. In return for a sexual favour, Toby gives Bell the whereabouts of Arturo (Zach Villa) who is now trying to live the straight and narrow by giving pro bono legal advice and guidance to immigrants. After a foot chase, Bell catches up with Arturo who spills the details of Dennis DiFranco (Bradley Whitford) - a lawyer who has been laundering the money from the original robbery. Bell deduces that Silas must be active once more because the money from that heist is almost all gone. After a beating at the hands of DiFranco's minder, Bell gets the upper hand and threatens DiFranco at gun point to give her the details of the next money drop off, which is to be collected by Silas' girlfriend Petra (Tatiana Maslany).

Bell catches up with Petra and follows her, camping outside her apartment overnight in her car keeping watch. The next morning Petra and a male friend drive into the city and take part in a heist orchestrated by Silas and his new gang. Bell sees this unfold, calls for back up, and ventures into the bank aided by two recently arrived Police Officers. The three of them lay siege to the armed robbery by now in full swing. In an exchange of rapid gunfire the gang retreat, and Bell catches up with Petra after a foot chase and an exchange of savage punches, kicks and body blows to both sides. Bell however, overcomes Petra and bundles the heavily bloodied woman into her car boot.

In a number of flashbacks we see Bell and Chris develop a loving relationship towards each other. In time, Bell falls pregnant with Chris's child. Bell convinces Chris to become legitimate participants in a bank heist being planned by Silas. Bell's plans is too take their share of the money, report into their Police HQ that after time they lost contact with the gang, lay low for a few months and then resign the Police Force and live happily ever after.

However, come the day of the robbery and Silas changes the plan. Instead of having Bell and Chris as the two getaway drivers, Silas orders Arturo to take Chris' place and for Chris to join him inside the bank at the very scene of the crime. All goes reasonably well, until just outside the bank Silas is carrying a hold-all stashed full of cash which explodes suddenly covering him and the contents of his bag in a haze of purple dye. This pisses Silas off and he returns to the teller and shoots her dead at point blank range. Chris re-enters the bank revealing himself to be FBI and is promptly shot dead by Silas. Bell is distraught and drives off in a rage plunging her van headlong into a dumpster killing the other gang member travelling with her, who by now suspects her of being a Police Officer. Bell hides her share of the stolen cash to retrieve it later. She then returns to active Policing not disclosing her original plan of her share of the heist monies.

Back in the present day, we see Bell in a cafe with her sixteen year old daughter Shelby (Jade Pettyjohn) with whom she has a very strained relationship. Bell is attempting to make her peace with her estranged daughter who is in a relationship with a 23 year old guy whom Bell disapproves of vehemently, and whom we see attempting to pay off with a cash sum of US$11K to move to Spokane and never darken her daughters doors again . . . . ever, by phone, letter, social media, in person - never, ever!

Bell does make peace with her off the rails daughter in a round about way, saying that she is far better off with Ethan (Scoot McNairy) with whom Bell struck up a relationship after Chris died but that relationship too is now fractured although the pair are still on good terms. Shelby considers Ethan to be her father, seeing as though she never knew her real father, Chris. Bell and Shelby share a quiet moment together in a diner recounting a fond memory from when Shelby was seven years of age, after which Bell stands up, tells her daughter that she loves her, kisses her on the forehead, and leaves.

Bell is then seen visiting a lock up storage facility where she aims to retrieve her share of the stolen money amounting to some US$300K and which she has not touched since the robbery. Her intention was to give the money to Ethan so that he can look after Shelby and give her the upbringing that she never could. However, upon opening the holdall bag in which is contained her stash of cash it is revealed that the majority of the bank notes are stained with the same purple dye.

She later receives a text message from Silas arranging a meeting at a viaduct, where she promptly shoots him three times at close range, so avenging the death of Chris. The next morning we see Bell sauntering up to the scene of the crime to be greeted by two Detectives looking over the murder victim. The slumped body is revealed to be the same body which Bell looked over at the start of the film bringing the story full circle. We then cut to Erin back in her car with those skateboarders practising their jump tricks. Up rocks her partner Antonio (Shamier Anderson), whom she hands an envelope to saying that all is self explanatory. In it she confesses to her sins giving Petra's location, the stained dollar bills, and a the key to her lock up. After Antonio leaves, we see Bell lift up her shirt revealing an extended stomach with severe bruising and internal bleeding sustained from several heavy beatings during the course of her investigations. She is finally at peace and resigned to her fate.

I have to say that I quite enjoyed 'Destroyer' but not as much as I thought I would. On the positive side Nicole Kidman gives a transformative performance that is so left field of her usual character choices that she deserves all the kudos afforded her for her quite possibly most unrecognisable role to date. And, in that respect she certainly delivers as the once good cop turned bad cop now with a massive chip on her shoulder, a grudge to society and as the weather beaten down trodden chewed up spat out nothing to lose LA cop. And the plot weaves between the past and the present in a way that makes sense and helps you join the dots come the end. But, for all of that this is a fairly procedural cops and robbers genre piece that we have seen before, interspersed with some moments of gripping action, emotional turmoil and revelation. This is Kidman's movie make no mistake supported by a convincing Sebastian Stan, but as for the other characters of Silas and Ethan especially, these are undercooked. 'Destroyer' is certainly worth the price of your cinema ticket for Kidman's performance if nothing else.

'Destroyer' warrants three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard form a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-