Ava

STORY: A deadly assassin working for a covert organisation is on a killing spree. But when an assignment goes horribly wrong, she is left to fend for herself and fight for her own survival.

REVIEW: Having killed about 40 people so far, Ava (Jessica Chastain) is one of the deadliest mercenaries ever recruited by a black ops organisation in America. By her own admission, the reason to eliminate a target is never disclosed to her, as she goes about ruthlessly slicing and dicing anyone who comes in the way of her mission. But one error is all it takes to put Ava in the eye of the storm, by the very organization she works for. What makes matters worse for Ava is her estranged family comprising her sister and ailing mother - both of whom know precious little about just how dangerous is Ava’s line of work.

Clearly, plot freshness isn’t one of the strongest points of this film that joins the list of countless assassin sagas. One would then have to rely on character variations to throw in some novelty. But even there, writer Matthew Newton barely manages to come up with anything extraordinary. The overall writing is just run-off-the-mill, but there are spurts of excitement when Ava is on a mission. However, even then, there’s never any real tension or urgency, despite mindless executions. The action is thrilling in parts, but the genre fans have sure seen slicker versions of the same.

Ava is the only character who gets some depth and detailing and Jessica Chastain (also the producer) makes the most of it. She puts in spectacular effort in enhancing the film’s action and it is her screen presence that lends considerable heft to the scenes. Rest of the characters are criminally wasted including Colin Farrell and John Malkovich. Wish their characters had more screen time and substance. Thankfully, the narrative runs at a decent pace and Ava’s familial problems also blend in well.

All in all, its Jessica Chastain’s charisma and star power that save the day for Ava. Otherwise, it’s an unimaginative plot with less thrill and more clichés.