Black Bag review

BLACK BAG: 

STEVEN SODERBERGH IN FULL FORCE IN GRIPPING SPY CAPER! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

FOCUS FEATURES

Michael Fassbender in Black Bag

 

            Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s trilogy, Contagion, Side Effects) returns for the second time this year with his latest spy thriller, Black Bag. I already went into my feelings on Soderbergh in my review of Presence recently, but I love the fact he’s a director who enjoys his work and keeping himself busy to the point of releasing more than one movie a year. 

            This movie I was very much curious about when I first saw the trailer in front of Nosferatu, a sleek and intelligent spy thriller with Michael Fassbender (X-Men franchise, 12 Years a Slave, Steve Jobs) and Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, Cinderella (2015), Thor: Ragnarok) lighting up the screen with one of the most brilliant directors working today helming it, how could you go wrong? The answer…you can’t, this movie is fantastic! 

            I dug the hell out of Black Bag and found it very exhilarating and intriguing throughout, it is a slow burn that’s dialogue-heavy and more along the lines of The Tailor of Panama or Duplicity rather than an action-oriented spy film. Presence was a neat little experimental film from Soderbergh, but this is him going back to his roots with Ocean’s Eleven and Logan Lucky style of filmmaking. 

            The film follows husband and wife intelligence agents, Kathryn St. Jean (Blanchett) and George Woodhouse (Fassbender). When Kathryn is suspected for treason, her husband, George is assigned to investigate her only to face the ultimate test - faithfulness to his marriage or loyalty to his country. 

            The film also stars Marisa Abela (COBRA, Industry, Back to Black) as Clarissa Dubose, Tom Burke (Donkey Punch, Mank, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga) as Freddie Smalls, Naomie Harris (28 Days Later, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3, Moonlight) as Dr. Zoe Vaughan, Regé-Jean Page (Roots (2016), For the People, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) as Col. James Stokes, Pierce Brosnan (James Bond franchise, The Tailor of Panama, The Ghost Writer) as Arthur Steiglitz, Gustaf Skarsgård (Kon-Tiki, Westworld, Oppenheimer) as Meacham, Kae Alexander (Bad Education, Ready Player One, Infinite) as Anna Ko, and Ambika Mod (This Is Going to Hurt, One Day, Sacrifice) as Angela Childs. 

            Overall, Black Bag is a sleek, sexy spy caper with the powerhouse duo of Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett leading the way and director Steven Soderbergh back in his comfort zone. The movie is mostly played seriously and doesn’t quite have as much wit as something like Ocean’s Eleven or Logan Lucky, but it’s a fascinating look at spy espionage and the relationships of the people involved in the film’s events. 

            The movie focuses more on Fassbender and Blanchett’s characters’ relationship rather than what’s actually at stake and both actors are very believable as the intelligence agent husband and wife with electrifying onscreen chemistry. Both are genuinely interesting protagonists especially Blanchett’s mysterious and enigmatic, Kathryn whom you’re not entirely sure what side she’s really on and Blanchett plays it flawlessly from start to the shocking finale. 

            Also, I love how Fassbender keeps this stoic, straight face throughout the entire film no matter the situation he’s in. There’s a scene involving a lie detector where he is testing various people and you know despite that straight facial expression, he is mentally going insane over the current predicament. 

            For the most part, it’s a pretty laidback, dialogue-heavy movie though there are times where the plot and mystery get a little too complicated and hard to follow which may be a turnoff point for some. I personally was never bored by any of the film, but there were probably a ton of details I didn’t fully process during my viewing that I might pick up on via a rewatch which I will have no problem doing once it hits digital or Blu-Ray. 

            Black Bag is a very enjoyable movie and easily one of my new favorite Steven Soderbergh films. It’s a consistently intriguing, slick, and phenomenally acted (90-minute) spy caper that keeps you on the edge of your seat until its jaw-dropping conclusion and doesn’t overstay its welcome.