by new contributor Josh Bierman
The 355 is a new action film starring a host of bad ass international superstars set for a January 2021 release. If we’re being honest, when I first saw Sponcon for this on my Instagram, I was 100% certain that this was a short film for Lancôme or Chanel starring their brand ambassadors. Turns out it’s a real life feature length film! Huzzah for female-fronted action movies. Let’s take a deep dive into the trailer...
YES
• Obviously we’ve got to start with our leading ladies. We’ve got Lupita Nyong’o, Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Diane Kruger, and Fan Bingbing. What a group! It’s been a while since we’ve seen some of them and they look like they’re in their element.
• All of these ladies have done action movies, but they are generally the only woman and playing the love interest. It’s nice to see them star alongside other women and that the filmmakers don’t feel the need to add a love story in order to have more men. (Then again this is just the first trailer, so that may still be in store for us.)
• Is Penélope Cruz now contractually obligated to have Edgar Ramírez in every project she works on? Fine by me! They work really well off together. We also have some prime Cruz line readings in this trailer, particularly, “I am a normal person.” God, I’ve missed her!
NO
• Jessica Chastain’s character is called...Mace? Maybe a missed opportunity to have other fun character names like Taser, Brass Knuckles, and Detonator.
• Is there much of a plot? Are they battling coders? Then again, this is never a question that a male-fronted fronted action movie would have to answer. But the material should be worthy of the talent and time of these amazing women.
• The movie was written by its director Simon Kinberg along with the playwright and television writer Theresa Rebeck, both of whom have a history of being involved with projects that are panned by critics and ridiculed by audiences. Kinberg’s last directing venture was 2019’s superhero bomb, X Men: Dark Phoenix and Rebeck is known for creating the NBC musical drama, Smash…
MAYBE SO
• ...which continues to find life on Twitter as a meme, bringing together gays the world over years after its cancellation. If The 355 is terrible, maybe it’ll at least be entertaining and give us moments that will live on in infamy as Smash has continued to do.
• There are so few new releases to give us any excitement these days. Good or bad, maybe we’ll all be happy to simply see a new movie where bad guys are having their asses handed to them by some kick ass ladies? This is assuming they don’t announce in December that they’re pushing the film to a summer in hopes of a ~theatrical~ release. Just give it to us VOD, we’re starved for the new !
Following the failure of Dark Phoenix, Kinberg said: “I’m here, I’m saying when a movie doesn’t work, put it on me. I’m the writer-director, the movie didn’t connect with audiences, that’s on me.” Do we think Kinberg will have reason to repeat these words for 355? Comment below!