Those Who Wish Me Dead

The veiled answer to the question of who set Democratic California on fire under Trump? A classic thriller theme of good guys on the run from hired killers, promisingly set in a forest imperiled by a wildfire. The bad guys are solid and well cast, but Angelina doesn’t fit here at all. A chick like that wouldn’t do this work, especially not in America. And the whole movie gradually slides into such naïveté, as well as silly clichés and pathos. And that’s a shame. (12/13/2021)

Pat and Mat in an unintentional parody of something that should have been dramatic at least on a basic level, but is just pitifully ridiculous. Taylor Sheridan is going downhill. I guess he likes fruit, so he wants a Golden Raspberry, otherwise, it’s a mystery. He was writing and filming Yellowstone at the same time, which is completely, completely different with its nourishing emotions and perfectly logically constructed story. In this film I recognized the sensitive Sheridan only in a small subtle scene stroking a horse, otherwise I spent the whole second half banging my head against the wall out of boredom, brushing crumbs out of my beard, counting fingers on my hand and looking at my watch to see how much more of this emotional torture I would have to endure. (05/25/2021)

I wonder if I've ever seen a more inept duo of killers in a movie. If they were clumsier, Those Who Wish Me Dead could have been a comedy. Otherwise, I don't really understand why a film starring such big names turned out to be so mediocre. It’s watchable, but it doesn’t stand out in anything. I prefer Sheridan as a director in the snow, and Angelina... well, nowhere really. (05/14/2021)

Thanks to Sicario, Wind River, and the few Yellowstone episodes I've seen, I like Taylor Sheridan a lot, and I was understandably excited for his new release. Unlike my colleagues, however, I had the advantage of having read the book, so I was rather cautiously looking forward to it. And thanks for that, because that's why I’m so disappointed with Those Who Wish Me Dead. While Sheridan did get rid of some rather boring and unnecessary plot lines, unfortunately he was left with what was already a problem in the book. That is, rather uninteresting characters and, above all, the pointless waiting for something to actually start happening. Angelina Jolie sits on a watchtower with a trauma, Jon Bernthal is a cool sheriff dealing with an expectant family, a little boy whose dad pissed off the wrong people who killed him runs around the woods, and ridiculously incompetent hit men try to complicate everyone's lives. And it takes an hour for all the uninteresting plot lines to come together, the forest to catch fire, and for Angelina to finally be able to save the day. The ending doesn't look bad, and as a survival thriller set in a burning forest it could be interesting, except that we have that hour beforehand to spend with boring characters on a story that is, to say the least, B-grade trite and simple, which I don't mean as a compliment. I'm finally going to finish watching Yellowstone to fix my appetite and remind myself why I like Sheridan in the first place. (05/17/2021)

Taylor Sheridan has set the bar very high with his films, so complaining that this isn't another Wind River seems naive to me (after all, his debut is a B-horror film called Vile), and although this film has a few flaws, it is still a solid, intense, and atmospheric thriller with a touch of the 90s that I enjoyed. The story takes place in the beautiful Montana wilderness with the even more beautiful Angelina Jolie, who at 45 still unbelievable. She is well supported by Punisher and a brother duo of killers (Little Finger and Nux). The action is not much in the end, but when it happens, it's quite intense, the weapons sound great, and the R-rating is used to its full potential. Personally, I would have loved to see twenty hitmen running in that burning forest and watch Angelina and Punisher eliminate them using traps, but I guess that's asking for too much. Anyway, the atmosphere is great, there's plenty of tension, the visuals and actors are fantastic, and the pace holds up decently, so I don't have many reasons to criticize it. However, those who can't enjoy the film because of occasional illogical behavior or a few cliched deviations are accidentally watching a different genre. 7/10. (05/14/2021)

A naive and, in places, pretty stupid story about a spoiled liquidation of a forensic accountant and his family. The murderers are clumsy morons. The fire is too digital in places. The main female character is not even likeable. And to top things, zombie Jolie looks like she has already committed suicide not that she’s only just thinking about it. Bernthal is the only safe and reliable actor here, but when it is the wife who has to save The Punisher, there must be something wrong. A great disappointment; I was expecting much more from Sheridan. Even From Paris with Love was slightly better that this. P.S.: The only thing missing is that Angelina keeps him, because that’s what she always does. (06/07/2021)

So I guess I know how non-Stephen King readers feel when they watch an adaptation of one of his books, from which not much made it to film, and try to get their bearings on the plot and figure out what's so interesting about the book. This will probably be the same case, because already the synopsis of Those Who Wish Me Dead is almost a completely different story. But who cares if the film is good – and Taylor Sheridan can make good films. This time, however... I didn’t work. The story is strange, the heroes and the villains are gifted with an almost supernatural luck that has nothing to do with reality, the whole thing doesn’t make much sense and when it finishes, not much is left in your head. It’s a real shame, because the cast is great, it looks good, it sounds good, etc. Maybe next time. (03/05/2022)