Everything formulaic without subtlety is bad. Because it only works when the combination is perfect, even if it follows a pattern. Inverting for the sake of inverting and using clichés is not the same thing as “using the formula”. This is one of the main problems with Ghosted, on Apple TV Plus.
I saw the film when it was released, in April, and I was pushing the opportunity to talk about it, yes, because it’s really bad. I only reconsidered because after Citadel, at least Ghosted is overtly an action between friends wanting a laugh, with no intention of creating a universe of secrets and pretentious twists. Ghosted is a romantic action comedy, the perfect vehicle for the Meg Ryans of life, but one that is underrated as something easy to do.
In fact, Ghosted looks like a remake of the bad Knight and Day, which was already terrible when released in 2010. Not even Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz saved the nonsense that was the film then, as well as Ana de Armas and Chris Evans can’t now and go through similar embarrassment Chris is the “boyfriend in distress”, neurotic and comic relief. Ana is the super spy who falls in love with his innocence, having to save the world and her love at the same time, not always in the same order. Adrien Brody is the caricatured villain on duty, he plays the same role in Peaky Blinders or Ghosted with the same laziness and tackiness, which doesn’t help the production at all. It’s not for nothing that so many people complained about the film.
Directed by Rocketman‘s Dexter Fletcher, we follow how sensitive Cole (Chris Evans), who works on his family’s farm, meets and falls in love with the mysterious Sadie (Ana de Armas). When she doesn’t respond to his texts – and no one can blame her when he goes from interested to clingy – Cole decides to pursue her in London. He quickly realizes that his girlfriend is a CIA agent and now he’s been drawn into an adventure where a biological weapon could put the world at risk.
There are amusing sequences, thanks to the charisma of the main couple and, in particular, due to uncredited and amusing appearances by friends from the Marvel universe. But that means a maximum of 10 minutes of light laughter, the most is a sequence of nonsense and clichés from action movies, spy movies, and romance. What is even more surprising for the worst is that the writers – Rhett Reese, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, and Paul Wernick – signed funny titles such as Deadpool and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Maybe they wrote this one just to earn some extra money? As we can see, even as bad as it is, there could always come others even worse. By the end of the movie, you’re not exactly annoyed, just not having much to say. The cue for a continuation will, God willing, be ignored.
MiscelAna 