Review: 'The Amateur' is Another Revenge Tale That Whimpers Out

"I want to face my wife's killers. Look them in the eyes..." And then what? Slap them? Walk away? Why is revenge becoming such a boring concept in storytelling nowadays. Has revenge lost its edge? Ever since The Revenant, the last great revenge film, nothing else has been able to pack a punch when it comes to revenge stories on screen. The latest movie to offer up another revenge story is The Amateur, directed by James Hawes, from a screenplay written by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinell. This one stars Oscar-winning actor Rami Malek as a nerdy CIA analyst who usually works in the basement on encryption & software programs until his wife is killed in a terrorist incident (in London). His anger drives him to ask for his employer's help in training & arming him so he can go get back at the guys who killed her. But he's not that good at being "in the field." Most of this movie wants to be like Jason Bourne or James Bond but with a nerdy guy instead, and even more grounded in reality as if he was realistically a lowly CIA employee who wanted to suddenly be like Bourne. But […]

Apr 10, 2025 - 18:09

Review: 'The Amateur' is Another Revenge Tale That Whimpers Out

"I want to face my wife's killers. Look them in the eyes..." And then what? Slap them? Walk away? Why is revenge becoming such a boring concept in storytelling nowadays. Has revenge lost its edge? Ever since The Revenant, the last great revenge film, nothing else has been able to pack a punch when it comes to revenge stories on screen. The latest movie to offer up another revenge story is The Amateur, directed by James Hawes, from a screenplay written by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinell. This one stars Oscar-winning actor Rami Malek as a nerdy CIA analyst who usually works in the basement on encryption & software programs until his wife is killed in a terrorist incident (in London). His anger drives him to ask for his employer's help in training & arming him so he can go get back at the guys who killed her. But he's not that good at being "in the field." Most of this movie wants to be like Jason Bourne or James Bond but with a nerdy guy instead, and even more grounded in reality as if he was realistically a lowly CIA employee who wanted to suddenly be like Bourne. But isn't the whole point anyway of the Jason Bourne movies that they're grounded and gritty? // Continue Reading ›