The conventional wisdom these days is movie stars don’t matter, franchises and brands do. And with all apologies to Marvel, etc., that’s not exactly true. Look at original programming on premium cable channels, Netflix, Apple TV+, and every streaming service there is. If you don’t have a recognizable brand to work with, the next best thing you have to get audiences to subscribe to your streaming service is stars and talent. It worked for Netflix’s first hit show “House Of Cards” (Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, and David Fincher), it worked for HBO with “True Detective” and “Big Little Lies” and it’s the model that every other streaming service, including Peacock and Paramount+, is doing in an effort to court press and draw eyeballs. Now Redbox Entertainment is getting into the action, following the same strategy of drawing in high-level talent to your exclusive content silo.
Their new film, “Black Site,” one of their most notable releases thus far, stars Michelle Monaghan, Jai Courtney, and Jason Clarke, a terrific trifecta of solid character actors who have all done great work. But the positives involved in this tedious, cliched CIA thriller end there.
“Black Site” underscores how vulnerable and hung out to dry actors can be when given lame and forgettable material, and the material here is highly disposable. Generic, banal, and full of boring macho posturing you’ve seen a million times before, done better by better actors who had help with a much greater screenplay, “Black Site” offers almost nothing worthwhile other than the presence of the three aforementioned actors clearly trying to do their best—and sometimes struggling—with very average, uninspired material.
“Black Site” starts out with what should be a gutting funeral, but it’s just totally flat and rote. CIA agent analyst Abby Trent (Monaghan) is saying goodbye to her husband and young daughter, both killed in a terrorist bombing. Utilizing hackneyed voiceover, Trent explains her pain and what was taken from her, but the film barely ever bothers to explore her grief and trauma, except for a few emotionless flashbacks to the husband and daughter playing on a beach.
Before long, she’s back in action, somewhere in the Middle East, managing an underground black site facility that imprisons dangerous and high-risk detainees. Days before Abby moves on to a new post, Special Ops bring in a high-value target at the top of every Most Wanted list — codename: Hatchet (Clarke).
Of course, this is where it gets personal, or is supposed to, as Hatchet—nicknamed for the notorious gruesome manner in which he kills his victims—is the man responsible for Abby’s husband’s and child’s death (though you’d almost never know it from this script).
Naturally, there’s a great conspiracy afoot that involves another high-valued detainee inside. Once Hatchet escapes, everything turns into total pandemonium when he begins murdering with his quick and ruthless assassin skills, creating further pandemonium by messing with the communication, lights, and inner infrastructure.
Facing moles, officers who question her instincts like the doubting grunt Miller (Courtney), and other threats, Abby soon finds herself in a chaotic situation with no one to trust.
Directed by Sophia Banks and written by John Collee, “Black Site” repeats the mistake of so many female-led action thrillers by making skill and competency the main character trait, and misogyny and sexism the secondary villain. Everyone doubts Abby because she’s a woman, which is interesting, but fully-realized characters need flaws and she essentially has none. All the normally interesting Monaghan has to do is look steely-eyed, shout, puff up her chest and convince everyone she’s proficient. But the film evinces her as highly capable at every little moment, always one quick step behind Hatchet’s tricks, and none of the bias within is ever convincing.
This is basically the script and characterization throughout—bland portraits of masculinity and feminine toughness that have absolutely nothing to say, no subtext, no ideas or depth. “Black Site” gets mildly interesting in the level of the brutality in its kills, Hatchet just ridiculously merciless and violent to the point it grabs your attention, but again, offers nothing of substance. Throw in casual racism and anti-Middle East bigotry and you have all the makings of a highly all-purpose CIA thriller.
This might even be too high of a compliment. “Black Site” often feels like an insipid episode of “CSI Miami” or any number of interchangeable law enforcement agency television shows on network television that just happens to have three stars in it (that were probably handsomely paid in order to appear). Cruelty and the perverse idea of small acts of mercy within an American torture chamber are about as close as “Black Site” gets to a kernel of an idea. As the clock ticks, the film asks, who can this qualified woman trust, but mostly, we’re just looking at our watch, waiting for the dull torment to end. [D+]
