some fun action

Rating: 4/10 (4 July 2016)

Extreme athlete Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey) loses his friend during a dangerous motocross stunt. Seven years later, Utah is a FBI agent. His boss Hall (Delroy Lindo) has a case of extreme unusual robberies. Utah recognizes them to be part of the Ozaki 8, eight spiritual Herculean tasks with extreme natural forces. He gets help from Angelo Pappas (Ray Winstone) and infiltrates a group led by Bodhi (Édgar Ramírez). He becomes close to Samsara Dietz (Teresa Palmer).
It starts with a ridiculous CGI action scene. This movie has plenty of them. They may be the only compelling goodness derived from this movie. The action is over-the-top and somewhat fun. The story and the actors are another matter. It starts with the very bland Luke Bracey. It's another hunky Aussie. There is nothing to the character and he's unable to inject anything into it. It's hard to remember sometimes but Keanu Reeves has an unique charm that really works well in certain movies. In this one, the movie grinds to a halt whenever there is no action. Also it's hyper-unreal that Utah keeps finding these people in the vast ocean. Realism is not expected but some of the unrealism is oddly annoying.