Reviews Are in For Soderbergh’s “Black Bag”

Steven Soderbergh is considered a master filmmaker, but it has felt like he’s not been on his ‘A’ game for some years. The director’s films have often been critically well-appraised, but a lot of them also lacked commercial prospects as well as having not scored well with audiences in polls.

In fact, the last film he directed that was widely well-received by both critics and audiences was “Logan Lucky” back in 2017. Since then his efforts like “Presence,” “Kimi,” “No Sudden Move,” and “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” among others have just not clicked in the way his best stuff has.

Critics reviews are now in for the upcoming spy thriller “Black Bag” and on Rotten Tomatoes it has scored a strong 90% (7.4/10) from 29 reviews. An audience score isn’t in yet so it’ll be interesting to see if this can break the trend.

Here’s a sampling of reviews.

“Steven Soderbergh dashes off a sleek little genre exercise — a doodle really, at a stage in his career when he’s clearly just having fun — that proves to be one of his smartest and sexiest films yet.”- Peter DeBruge, Variety

“Black Bag is a sexy, smart, and cool movie about marriage. Seriously.”- Kristy Puchko, Mashable

“Human weakness is ‘Black Bag’s’ greatest strength. It’s an insidiously great spy movie, mature and satisfying.”- William Bibbiani, TheWrap

“Black Bag succeeds on its chilly wit, and on the cool, nervy appeal of its two stars. Blanchett strides through the movie with lioness grace; Fassbender makes George’s robotic use of logic seem like an aphrodisiac”- Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine

“Black Bag offers none of the blockbuster escapism of a James Bond picture, but when Soderbergh is working with this level of confidence and control, he’s just as lethal.”- Tim Grierson, Screen International

“The who’s-zooming-who plot can be difficult when it comes to maintaining audience engagement. It’s a testament to David Koepp’s screenplay that it tosses out just enough red herrings and unspoken motivations to maintain a balance of enigma and empathy.”- Alonso Duralde, The Film Verdict

“While the supporting cast are impeccable across the board, it’s really Blanchett and Fassbender’s film to command, with performances that drip with old-school star power.”- Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

“Insofar as this slightly absurdist display can be taken seriously, its importance resides in George and Kathryn’s married love. If you can believe in that, or anyway find it an entertaining contrivance, then there is entertainment in Black Bag.”- Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“By the time the film comes to the end of its brisk runtime, it feels like nothing
much has actually happened, despite all the narrative convolutions.”- Mark Hanson, Slant Magazine

Penned by David Koepp, Michael Fassbender stars as George Woodhouse – a legendary spy who must investigate his wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), after she is accused of betraying the nation. Naomie Harris, Tom Burke, Regé-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, and Pierce Brosnan co-star.

“Black Bag” opens in cinemas on March 14th.

The post Reviews Are in For Soderbergh’s “Black Bag” appeared first on Dark Horizons.