‘Ava’ is Full of Problems
By: Sarah Callen
Tags: Movie Review, Ava, Movies, Film Reviews, Film

But it’s not all that bad.

Ava movie poster | Vertical Entertainment

I am one of those who are inclined to believe that Jessica Chastain can do no wrong. Even when I don’t enjoy a movie that she’s in, she still gives a great performance. And that’s what we see in Ava, a film that is somehow equal parts action film and family drama.

Ava centers around a troubled female assassin who has to battle her own demons, her family’s past, and those seeking to take her out. The story is entirely predictable and doesn’t do anything new or ground-breaking. It’s a film that’s entertaining enough to have on in the background while you’re doing something else — I’m really glad that I didn’t pay money to go see it in theaters.

Chastain, of course, holds her own in this. This film, for all its flaws, really shows off her range as an actress, from flirting to get close to a target, to weeping with her family, to beating up a whole room of bad guys, she did a great job. I was willing to go through the weirdly complicated plot just to spend more time with her.

I’ve read some reviews where Ava is compared to John Wick, saying that this film is just as good or bad as that one, but I have to disagree. While I did grow frustrated with the John Wick films just because I didn’t want to keep seeing Keanu Reeves in a constantly concussed state, I do think those films are better.

Jessica Chastain in Ava | Vertical Entertainment

Ava Tries to do Too Much

One of the beautiful things about John Wick is its simplicity. A well-trained assassin who is dealing with the death of his wife is set over the edge when his dog is killed. That’s it. He goes on a whole killing spree in order to get revenge on the guy who killed his dog. Then, from that simple premise, we’re brought into an elaborate and creative world of elite assassins.

Ava, on the other hand, has a ton of other plotlines going on. We learn about the death of Ava’s abusive father, her neglectful mother suffering from OCD and other health issues, her gambling ex-fiance who is now engaged to her sister who also happens to be pregnant. That’s in addition to her addiction and her attempts to stay sober, her relationship with her stand-in father figure Duke (John Malkovich), and the criminal enterprise that she is part of.

One of the beautiful things about many action films is their simplicity. The protagonist has a singular mission and as they’re trying to execute that, we can learn a ton about the characters and the world they live in.

If Ava had tried to do a little less, I think it could’ve been a lot better.

Jessica Chastain in Ava | Vertical Entertainment

The Choreography is Only Okay

What amazed me about the John Wick films is how incredible all of the fights are. Honestly, I still think about the knife fight in John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum from time to time, it’s that good. The fights in that series are so tight, every move so perfectly timed, and is all done where I can clearly see the people fighting. I hadn’t seen that wide-spread level of precision in action films before; the creative fights blew me away.

John Wick raised the bar when it comes to the quality of fight scenes in action films and Ava couldn’t keep up.

Ava just didn’t have as good of choreography, though there were moments of genius. These, largely happen when Ava is on her own, improvising when something goes wrong in the field. Like when she reacts to the Germans in Riyadh. I could watch her plowing through tons of bad guys all day long. Or when she leaps out of that fountain to take out the assassin who tried to kill her, I shouted at my TV — it was so great! It’s not only an exciting moment of action, but it shows a level of ruthlessness that made me really respect Ava.

The problem was that I found the larger fights to be boring. I was thoroughly uninterested in watching Duke and Simon (Colin Farrell) duke it out. It was hard to watch a bar brawl between two guys past their prime after watching just how smooth Ava fights.

And then, when Simon finally confronts Ava, I just wanted him to turn around and go back home. He makes it clear that he’s out of practice, yet he goes to try and kill his top assassin. This felt like an important reminder to stay in your lane.

Ava is an okay movie, which, sadly, isn’t enough because female characters are judged more harshly than male characters. It’s not right, but it’s where we currently find ourselves. An “okay” movie about a female assassin is always going to be seen as a massive letdown. Hopefully that won’t always be the case.

In the meantime, I’m glad that studios are trying new things and giving women the opportunity to be action stars. As more and more of these types of films come out, I hope that they get better and better.