Manuel São Bento
2/17/2025
FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://talkingfilms.net/cleaner-review-daisy-ridley-shines-in-a-die-hard-inspired-thriller/
"Cleaner is a functional action-thriller that meets the genre's basic requirements without ever truly standing out.
Daisy Ridley's all-in commitment elevates the material, but Martin Campbell's competent direction can't hide a predictable script and a thematic exploration that, while respectable, remains surface-level.
In the end, it's 90 minutes of decent entertainment, but one that won't leave a lasting impact in the endless lineup of Die Hard's spiritual successors."
Rating: B-
"Cleaner" ticks the basics boxes for an action thriller, whilst peddling the usual woke tropes.
My advice, skip the first 20 minutes of this film. Its filled with the usual woke prattle about diversity, patriarchy, climate change, blah, blah, blah. All the while subtly pushing an unsavoury narrative, that the Brit military, are somehow the good guys.
Whats left thereafter, is a functional action thriller, with an Audrey Hepburn styled, tough girl character. The whole proposition is vaguely reminiscent of the first "Die Hard" film, only nowhere near as entertaining and endearing.
In summary, a basic Brit action thriller, that offers up the what you might expect, once the lecturing has died down.
Cleaner starts off with great potential. The lead character is like a young tough Keira Knightley. She's a likable modern urban girl.
Then bad guys arrived led by Clive Owen - who's always had great movies. But here he pays the bad guy and only makes a short appearance. (So, bad, and then bad again.)
The bad guys are then led by a psycho with lots of violence.
The potential was great, and there's lots of crime + police action. I just didn't want it to be a story about the psycho guy.
This is a British modern version of Die Hard except Bruce is a young acrobatic girl.
Some good thriller moments. But many cringe moments too.
It's a movie about eco-terrorists, but then there's in-your-face woke messaging throughout the entire movie. Everything is the opposite of normality in this movie.
RATING: 6.75 / 10
