On June 19, the movie «Shadow Force» starring Kerry Washington and Omar Sy was released in theaters. They will play a fighting married couple who have to take on the whole world «, and director Joe Carnahan will be in charge of this fierce confrontation. His filmography is full of action movies, including «Smokin’ Aces» (2007), «The A-Team» (2010), «Stretch» (2014), «Boss Level» (2019), but this time something clearly went wrong for the director and the entire creative team. Read the review below to find out what exactly.
Genre action movie
Director Joe Carnahan
Starring Kerry Washington, Omar Sy, Mark Strong, Da’Vin Joy Randolph, Method Man, Krondon, Ed Quinn, Natalia Reyes, Jake Tapper
Premiere movie theaters
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb, official website
Once upon a time, tough special forces officers Kira and Isaac were part of the CIA’s secretive Shadow Force, which neutralized important targets around the world. But one day they fell in love and had a son, Kai, so the new parents decided to end their turbulent past and leave the group.
Meanwhile, the harsh, bald uncle Jack Cinder, who once headed the squad and is now the secretary (sorry, secretary general) of the G7. He disagrees with this state of affairs and gathers a team at every opportunity to set his former colleagues against each other. The situation is also personal because this nasty guy clearly has a bad feeling about Kira. What are the consequences of their forbidden love for the fugitives?
«Family first» — this is the inscription on the official poster of the film, as if it was stolen from the script «Fast & Furious». It is he who announces the main idea that the authors are trying to convey. Later on, we witness a bank robbery scene that is phenomenal in its absurdity, and it becomes clear what kind of movie is coming.
The problem is not even in the secondary nature of the idea itself — just remember the Netflix nonsense «Back in Action» with identical content. And in general, this approach is — the norm for action movies, and the recent ballerina avenger Ana de Armas will not let you lie. The fact is that «Shadow Force» — is absolutely untenable in the context of movie fight scenes. They are staged and filmed inexcusably clumsily, and it is easy to guess that the jerky editing is intended to somehow hide the lack of production skills. Or the desire to demonstrate this skill, who knows.
At the same time, some kind of game is constantly happening in the frame. Sometimes an irritating little «will delight the» audience with his unsurpassed singing. Then desperate lovers will start hitting each other out of the blue after a long separation. That, let’s face it, doesn’t sound like a tough warrior Da’Vyn Joy Randolph will kick the helpless rapper Method Man’s ass (this couple is a separate topic for discussion). Even 50 Cent, with all his love for roles in third-rate action movies I didn’t allow myself to do that.
The only more or less sane episode in 100 minutes is a chase scene in a cool armored car (no wonder we mentioned «Fast & Furious»), during which you finally start to remember that the movie is positioned as an action movie. However, it is so fleeting and has a very dubious climax to boot that it fails to change the situation for the better.
It’s not surprising why Lionsgate, the studio that was in charge of the project along with several other companies, was not interested, things are not going well. For now, they will rely on such opuses as «Shadow Force» or, for example, «Flight Risk», the company is not going to pay significant dividends. The same more status «Ballerina» with a solid budget of $90 million rolling rapidly into the abyss of box office failure.
Along with last year’s «The Killer» John Woo’s French actor Omar Sy is starring in his second consecutive nonsensical action movie, only this one is even more nonsensical and pointless. Kerry Washington not only played one of the main roles, but also contributed to the production of the film through her production company Simpson Street. To say that there is absolutely no chemistry between the two performers, and that you believe in their love no more than you believe in the existence of Santa Claus, is an understatement. Mark Strong delivers another villain on autopilot with one left hand.
Among the other actors, we can only mention Natalia Reyes, who is primarily known to the audience for her participation in «Terminator: Dark Fate» (2019). After its failure, the actress suffered much the same fate as Christanna Loken after «Rise of the Machines» (2003) — oblivion. Here, the Colombian is limited to one battle and a few lines, most of which are dictums like «F*ck!» or «Bitch!».
As for Joe Carnahan, who in the last decade released films of the caliber of «The Grey» (2011) with Liam Neeson (about him, by the way, this week also there was a reason to remember), it is obvious that the director’s best days are behind him. His new movie is the ultimate cringe-worthy nonsense, consisting entirely of meaningless scenes and dialogues, as well as very, very little action. So it would be better if this squad really stayed somewhere deep in the shadows.
