I think they used to describe this type of thing as 'hard-boiled' back in the nineties. This usually meant light on the exposition, dialled back on the flair with the ante upped for tension, grunting and gritty gunplay.
There really isn't too much time for idle chit-chat anyway, weighing in at only a newborn's first movement over ninety minutes, with credits, but Amazon knows all too well that this is not what you're here for.
"Want to go out tonight?" "Not fussed." "Okay, well what's streaming that we already pay for? This'll do."
And really, this is probably the only reason you would seek this out. Convenience. The seemingly unimaginative tale of a grizzled police investigator with a tragic past and family skeletons that haunt him is not new by any stretch, but for all of this, Affleck still does well carrying the main role, though really isn't asked by Rodriguez to do an awful lot.
But as we've established, we're not really asking an awful lot either, so we're all good then. If you can ignore and just roll with the main premise, the ridiculous narrative and barely scraped character arcs, you might find yourself having a better time than you initially expected.
You will almost certainly be confused by the conclusion as there are unfinished threads everywhere you look, necessary though they are in order for the one real plot to work coherently. This has seen comparisons to the likes of The Matrix and Inception of both Inception and The Matrix and while polarised, I can see elements here of both examples.
A bit of a headscratcher, all told, with good enough performances so as not to make you laugh, but beneath the likes of Affleck really. Shout outs are due to personal hero William Fichtner with a lovely, albeit brief, cameo from Jackie Earle Haley.
Better than expected, but still not great.
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