Under the lens takes a deep look at films by focusing in on one or two particular areas of the picture that helped to define it for better or for worse.
Heart of Stone is a 2023 spy thriller starring Gal Godot, Jamie Dornan, and Alia Bhatt, it is Directed by Tom Harper and produced by Gal Gadot. The story follows An intelligence operative named Rachel Stone, who works for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency and races to stop a hacker from stealing its most valuable and dangerous weapon.
UNDER THE LENS: WOMAN ON A MISSION AND CAMERAS
Woman on a Mission: The genre of “Man on a Mission” is a popular one, and with good reason, it showcases an easy-to-follow story and sets its protagonist on a path they must follow. It then concludes by giving the viewer a nicely tied-up conclusion with the success of the mission. The Mission Impossible Franchise has perfected this genre and has been rewarded with box office gold. Heart of Stone was clearly crafted off of the Mission Impossible films, by giving us a “Woman on a mission” story and that is not really a bad thing, we get lots of exciting set pieces, hand-to-hand combat, and global locations.
The characters are very thin, we only learn a tiny bit about Rachel Stone or her background, but that does not really matter as the mission is the main character of this story. The plot is crafted to showcase each action setpiece and the film is better off for it. From a thrilling sky-base jump to an attack on a zeppelin, all the action is fun. Gal Gadot does a great job kicking ass and taking names while looking gorgeous doing it! We see a lot of female-led action pictures, but few adventure stories like Mission Impossible.
Cameras: I am not sure what it is about the cameras that Netflix uses to film their pictures, but sadly Heart of Stone does not look as good as it should. The colors are often washed out and images or scenes that should POP do not. For example, when the powers of “The Heart” are used it should be a gorgeous digital map, however, the cameras made it look bland and colorless. The only sequence that truly stood out was the skybase jump that saw Gal Gadot’s Rachel Stone descend a mountain on skis with a glowing parachute, the sequence, and colors looked great! I just wish the rest of the picture looked as good.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The skydive sequence is well-shot and looks fantastic.
- Gal Gadot makes the action look real and fluid.
- Alia Bhatt is great and has good chemistry with Gal Gadot.
QUOTABLE QUOTE
Kaya: The British are coming, the British are coming!
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Have you ever been betrayed by someone you thought was a friend? How did this affect you? How were you able to move on?
CONCLUSION
Heart of Stone is a fun time, it showcases its star Gal Gadot’s talent for action and gives her an opportunity to shine. Sadly the film has some camera issues and color grading problems, and its first act drags badly. However, once the first act twist comes around, the picture injects its viewer with adrenaline and bids you come run with it. It’s anchored by the solid chemistry between Alia Bhatt and Gal Gadot as well as fun and creative action set pieces.
Heart of Stone does not reinvent the wheel, but it was not trying to, instead, it gives us a fun and engaging “Woman on a mission” story that I for one had a good time with. If Heart of Stone 2 is greenlit I for sure will be watching.
