Cast: Halle Berry

Genre: Thriller

You might like this movie if you enjoyed:
Breakdown (1997)
The Hitcher (2007)
The Call (2013)

Long Story Short:

A little boy gets kidnapped right in front of his mother’s eyes, and she will not rest until she saved him. 

Review:

Last time we’ve seen Halle Berry apart from the X-Men Franchise in 2014 was in the WWE produced thriller The Call, which personally I enjoyed. It was fast paced and kept me at the edge of my seat. Was it realistic? Maybe not, but does it always have to be?

Kidnap felt a lot like The Call to me. We get to know Halle Berry as the hard- working Jordan who works at a diner, and deals with many ungrateful customers in order to provide for herself and her son Frankie. Frankie’s father has a new wife and it all seems that he wants to file for sole custody. Right in this mess, Jordan witnesses a woman violently dragging her son in a car, and the hunt begins.

The story is simple and has been told many times before, but Halle Berry delivers her role with such charm and charisma it’s simply impossible to stop watching.

Unfortunately there is not much to admire besides her. While the first 35 minutes are very intense, the movie tries to keep up the pace for the remaining hour, however, didn’t quite manage to keep me (as) interested. When I expected a twist towards the end, which could have saved everything, I was let down again. It ends rather abruptly, which worked in The Call, but in this case I was expecting more. There were so many missed opportunities, she had quick interactions with several people, either of them could have easily been involved, maybe somehow her husband could have plotted something, but none of that happened. So why the side plot?

Another thing that really bothered me: One moment a car is damaged on the side, the next there isn’t even a scratch. At one point Halle Berry has a big scratch on top of her upper lip and her face is smeared with blood, suddenly she looks cleaned up. Wait, what?! When did all this happen, while she is trying to keep up with her son’s kidnappers? Did she use a rest room? These things shouldn’t happen, at least not that obviously.

I will always watch a thriller if Halle Berry is in it, because I like the roles she picks. And even though the movies aren’t all that they are always worth a one time watch. Nonetheless if I had to pick, I would rather watch The Call or Gothica again before I re-watch Kidnap.

Tip: Don’t watch the Trailer if you are planning on watching the movie, you will enjoy it much more being left in suspense.

Idea: 5/10
Story Development: 4/10
Character Development: 4/10
Logic: 5/10
Avoiding Clichés: 5/10
Cast: 7/10
Twist: 2/10
Creep Factor: 6/10
Ending: 4/10
Overall Impression: 5.5/10

My Rating:  5/10

Published by Elias

Biracial Kid, born in the late 80s. I write short stories, lyrics, books, I love Food, and I watch as many TV shows and movies as I can. My dream is to share my happiness and joy with the world... and to open a luxury hotel. View all posts by Elias