Starring: Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Sidney Poitier, Diane Venora, J.K. Simmons, and Jack Black, with a cameo from Larry King
Grade: B-
You’re probably thinking, “Jack Black is in this movie? That’s an interesting casting choice. Does he do something different?”. He does not. He will always be Jack Black, at all costs.
Summary
In Moscow, Russia, known gangster Ghazzi Murad (Ravil Isyanov) shows up to some night club and is greeted outside. As they discuss how Ghazzi’s brother Terek (David Hayman) is doing, scar-faced Russian MVD agent Major Valentina Koslova (Venora) is seen across the street lighting up a cigarette watching the two. FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston (Poitier) and Agent Timothy Witherspoon (Simmons) are also there, watching it all take place from the view in their van. Ghazzi and his henchmen are brought to a table inside the club. Once they get settled in, everyone gets in place and Preston makes the call for the troops to storm the club, with Koslova following. Major Koslova refuses a bribe from Ghazzi and tells him he’s under arrest for the murder of the Mayor Nikolai Semankho. Ghazzi argues they have nothing on him, but Preston says they found his DNA (blood) on the scene. Ghazzi still doesn’t care. With his henchmen alongside men, he initiates an attack on Koslova, Preston, and their crew. During the scuffle, Ghazzi is very close to killing Koslova with his knife, but she is able to shoot and kill him. Afterwards, a visibly shaken Koslova leans against a car, and Preston consoles her with a drink from his flask and thanks her for saving his life. In Helsinki, Finland, the guy from the club tells Terek about what happened to Ghazzi in front of Terek’s men. Terek asks him how many of the law enforcement agents he killed in response, but the guy admits they didn’t kill anyone because there were too many at the scene. As a result, Terek kills the guy with a medieval battle axe in front of everyone there. Following this, Terek makes it clear to his team that the FBI’s actions are an act of war, so war is what they will get.
After this, Terek has a private meeting in a hotel room with a mysterious assassin known only as “The Jackal” (Willis).
Terek tells the Jackal that he wants to make a splash in America by killing a very important public figure as revenge for his brother’s death. He asks if it’s possible to kill this specific person while holding a picture to the Jackal’s face, though the viewer does not see who it is because after the Jackal says he can do it, Terek immediately throws it into a paper shredder. Knowing how important this person is, the Jackal says he will have to go into hiding forever once the assassination is carried through. With this, he wants $70 million in cash, half now and the other half upon completion. Without hesitation, Terek agrees to this. Right away, the Jackal gives him some initial guidelines to follow. Since they are the only two who know about this plan, the idea is to keep it that way. They are not to refer to their arrangement through telephone or fax, and Terek must find a place outside of Russia until the mission is completed. If anything leaks, the Jackal reserves the right to decide whether to continue with the mission or not, but he keeps the initial payment regardless. Terek agrees with no issue. At the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Koslova, hearing it directly from her informants, tells the small group of the law enforcement officials involved that Terek has put bounties on the heads of all MVD and FBI personnel, with special bounties for Koslova and Preston specifically. Already, seven MVD operatives have been killed. However, the informants have said this is just the start, as Terek is planning something much bigger. Eight days ago, Terek and his top two lieutenants were spotted at Apensione in the town of Porvoo in a hotel, 60 kilometers west of Helsinki. They’ve been there ever since, taking the entire third floor for themselves with their nine bodyguards all being former Spetsnaz. No one has left the building in five days.
Their only contact with the outside has been with Viktor Politovsky (Yuri Stepanov). He goes to the post office twice a day for Terek’s mail, which arrives general delivery. Right away, Preston puts out word to contact Interpol and get everything they can on Politovsky. Before exiting, a Russian official tells Preston they have to be prepared for an immediate interrogation if someone from Terek’s crew is apprehended because they are notoriously hard to catch. If given the opportunity, they have to act. Quickly thereafter, Politovsky is captured and thrown into a van by Russian forces. At the Helsinki airport, the Jackal steals some guy’s passport after the guy went to the bar for a drink. Next, he goes to London and is able to change the Canadian passport he stole to coincide with a new identity, by way of paying a colleague (Sophie Okonedo) to do it for him. Following this, he heads over to the bank and meets with bank manager Clive, asking for his deposit to be split evenly between his accounts in Macao and Panama. The balance will be left there in dollars. Also, he wants a Luxembourg account open and some credit cards for an American bank. He will send Clive the names. The manager is happy to help him and says he will overnight the credit cards to his box in Montreal.
Next, Clive gives the Jackal something that came for him, and the Jackal subsequently asks to use his computer, which he happily lends him since he’s used to the Jackal’s appearances by now. Using the computer, the Jackal purchases some massive gun for $200,000 and has it sent to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The client name will be “Charles C. Murdock”. Meanwhile, the FBI and MVD watch a video of the interrogation of Politovsky where he’s basically tortured for information before dying, though the Russian official who was involved says he died from an undisclosed heart condition. They don’t get much out of him, but they do hear him refer to the Jackal. The Russians are not aware of who the Jackal is, so Preston talks about how he’s been credited with numerous assassinations, but they can’t find any evidence he even exists. Koslova looks over at the other Russian officials, so they leave the room. Privately, Koslova tells Preston and Witherspoon how the Jackal worked as a K.G.B. asset from time to time, but they don’t know his name. Payments were made to the contracting organization or a Hong Kong bank account. No K.G.B. member has ever seen him, and they don’t know if he ever operated in the United States. However, Politovsky’s briefcase did contain biographical information regarding FBI Director Donald Brown (John Cunningham).
In disguise, the Jackal flies to Montreal as a fisherman. Then, under another disguise and name, he goes and buys a minivan. Next, he goes to an undisclosed location and practices to see how fast he can power wash the paint off of his car. Meanwhile, Preston and Koslova have a meeting with Donald Brown, and they discuss a plan of action. He wants the op to be close-hold, no publicity. He also wants a working group together involving the State, CIA, Secret Service, and the Russian Embassy, and he wants daily progress reports. Koslova pipes in and says that since 1983, the KGB provided funding for five direct-action missions, one bombing, and four assassinations by gunshot. The Jackal was the operative used. Using KGB files, she’s narrowed down a list of six operatives they believe have actually seen the Jackal. Four are dead, one is in Libya, but one is in the United States. The one in the United States is a Basque separatist named Isabella Zancona (Mathilda May), though they don’t know where in America she actually is. One agent mentions that Interpol said in the 80s, she was involved with a sharpshooter for the IRA named Declan Mulqueen (Gere). He was shipped from Ireland to prison in the United States and picked up two 25-year sentences for old weapons trafficking charges and is currently serving time at a maximum-security state penitentiary in Massachusetts. Preston is hoping Mulqueen will give up Isabella’s location on the promise of a reduced sentence, though he’s reminded by Brown to not promise too much because Mulqueen is still a terrorist.
Preston, Koslava, and Witherspoon meet with Mulqueen and tell him Isabella entered America illegally, though Mulqueen doesn’t fall for it. He knows they wouldn’t come all the way over to him to talk about a case of an illegal alien, so Preston admits they’re after the Jackal. Since they believe she knows what the Jackal looks like and helps them, they can arrange a full pardon for her and can guarantee the Spanish government will never know her whereabouts. Mulqueen counters with the fact that currently, neither the U.S. government nor the Spanish government knows where she is, so there’s no point in even offering this perk.
Well, he’s got you there.
Witherspoon steps in and offers a move to a minimum-security prison, but Mulqueen refuses because of Witherspoon’s dick-ish approach. Finally, Preston asks what it would take for Mulqueen to help. Mulqueen asks for him to be convinced that Isabella would be kept safe, and he gets to go back to Ireland a free man. Preston refuses the second term. Not only is he a known gunrunner but he’s also a known killer of British personnel. Once another agent talks about all the women and children that he’s probably responsible for killing, Mulqeen gets defensive and says it’s not his war, he was never a bomber, and he only killed in a war scenario. All he wants to do now is go home. Preston still refuses to try, and they all start to head out. As they walk away, Mulqueen admits he’s actually met the Jackal and it forces them all to stop in their tracks. In a private conversation in the cafeteria, Mulqueen tells Preston he can identify the Jackal’s face if given the opportunity and his methods. He’s never worked with him, but there is some underlying personal issue between them that he doesn’t get into. However, he does request that Isabella is left out of it. Unfortunately, Preston says they will find her with or without Mulqueen’s help since she’s the only known contact they have. Mulqueen agrees to help on three conditions: He is let out of prison (and gives Preston his word he won’t take off), he goes with to meet Isabella, and he gets a decent razor.
The man needs a shave. I feel that.
Before they get on their flight, Preston gives Mulqueen the rundown of consequences if he tries to escape. As Witherspoon makes it known he’s keeping an eye on Mulqueen, Mulqueen tries to flirt with Koslova but fails. Elsewhere, the Jackal enlists goofy criminal Ian (Black) to build the mount for the big gun he ordered. He needs it in eight days, and they agree on a payment of $40,000, though this is because he stares at Ian with an intimidating look when Ian initially asks for $50,000. When Ian tries to have a playful conversation with him, the Jackal gets serious with him. He gets close and demands that when Ian finishes the unit, he has to turn over the plans and any scrap material. He is to forget about “Charlie Murdock” and the tech specs on the plan. Ian promises everything will be straight. In Phoebus, Virginia, Mulqueen and the agents drive up to Isabella’s house. Mulqueen stares and is a bit shaken, as it’s been eight years since he last saw her. Now, she’s married with kids. Mulqueen greets her husband George and asks to speak to Isabella. When she comes out, she’s almost in tears seeing him and they hug. Taking the hint, George takes the kids out back so the two can talk. As Mulqueen explains the situation to her, Preston tells Witherspoon in private that Isabella’s involvement will be strictly classified, meaning he doesn’t want Witherspoon to mention anything regarding her in the report. In the backyard, Isabella sits with Mulqeen and Koslova and tells them everything she knows like how she doesn’t know the Jackal’s name, he’s definitely American, he had special military training where he learned Spanish in El Salvador, and she didn’t like talking to him. Though they were all dangerous people back then, the Jackal was different. Someone like Mulqueen had a passion and a cause, but the Jackal was cold.
He felt nothing.
Koslova thanks her for everything and requests she say nothing to her husband about the conversation, with Isabella saying to not worry about George because he doesn’t know about her past and doesn’t want to. Koslova leaves the two and tells Mulqueen she’ll wait for him by the car. As soon as she exits, Isabella gives Mulqueen a key to a locker at Norfolk Greyhound Terminal. It contains a clean passport and $10,000 cash. His friends gave it to her in case Mulqueen ever showed up, allowing him to escape back to Ireland. Mulqueen insists he can’t leave because he gave his word, something Isabella guessed. She knows they’ll send him back to prison when the Jackal kills Brown, but he makes it known that if he believes something like that will happen, he will use the key. They almost kiss, as the passion is still there, but they don’t as she talks about how much she loves her family and how she is at peace. Disappointed but accepting of it all, Mulqueen drives off with Major Koslova. Seeing him saddened, she starts to warm up to him a bit, commenting that since she’s Basque, they are known to live by their vendetta. If they hate someone, it’s to the death. It’s the same way when they love. Additionally, she finally tells him her first name of Valentina, her parents are still alive in Russia, her brother is in the Navy, and how she is not married, nor does she have any kids. The latter she blames on her scarred face. She also knows Isabella gave him “something”, but she trusts he won’t use it until after their business has concluded.
Now, Mulqueen is the primary consultant for the FBI in trying to figure out a way to hunt and take down the Jackal once and for all. Of course, the Jackal’s elusiveness is as advertised. He is a very hard man to stop.
My Thoughts:
The hate is not completely unwarranted but most of the vitriol surrounding The Jackal is because of its connection to The Day of the Jackal. However, it’s important to note how different the two films are and how this American version is more inspired by the source material rather than it being a direct adaptation or close remake. Essentially, the only thing that remains that makes this movie resemble the other iterations of the premise is that of the mysterious, ice-cold contract killer known as the Jackal. Everything else in Chuck Pfarrer’s screenplay and Kevin Jarre’s rewrite are almost entirely new ideas, and it’s reworked into exactly what you would expect from a late 90s action movie. When you take all of this into account, The Jackal is a lot better than most people would have you believe. It may not be as suspenseful or as quietly eerie as the original movie, but as far as loud American action movies go involving a political twist, there is fun to be had watching a new group of characters try to catch the legendary nameless hitman.
The one thing The Jackal has over the original 1973 film is the surprisingly good cast of stars manning the main characters, with the main attraction being the cold war and eventual showdown between Richard Gere and Bruce Willis at the height of their stardom. If you read a lot of the reviews here on Cinema Loco, my love for action heroes, the stars who make the genre what it is, and action films in general are well-documented. This is what makes this matchup so exciting to watch. Not only are Gere and Willis big enough stars to give a certain level of gravitas to their characters to make this a cinematic worthy battle, but the presentation of both of their backstories, why they are bitter enemies (more so with Mulqueen wanting revenge on the Jackal rather than the other way around), the costuming, and the look of both men fitting their descriptions really mesh well with the story they are trying to tell. Additionally, making Gere’s Irish character a former member of the IRA was a compelling creative decision that adds layers to the story and an all-around cooler protagonist than Claude Lebel in the 1973 film. As likable and charismatic as Mulqueen is, you have to give him a reason for being in prison as long as he has to make him a true adversary that can match up with the world’s most famous contract killer. As they talk about him, they make it clear he’s technically a terrorist and they can’t promise him too much if he helps, adding a serious edge to our “hero” of sorts. It’s a great way to explain his abilities as the story progresses and as the action becomes more violent without inserting a prison fight scene, which would’ve felt forced. Here, it’s established that he’s well-versed in IRA activities and is paying the price for it, which is why he’s quippy and has cooled off quite a bit while serving his time.
This allows for Richard Gere to rely on what he does best upon his introductory scene and be likable from the outset, oozing a mix of understated machismo and smoothness with just a crack of a smile and an attitude that comes off as a cool rather than dick-ish. At this moment, Mulqueen has nothing to lose and is having fun with his interaction with Preston and the FBI. You can see it with his movements and reactions. He’s enjoying fucking with them because even if he loses out on their offer, he’s got the whole “I’ve seen the Jackal personally” in his back pocket if things go south, which will force them to compromise. It’s very much a criminal mindset that he has, and it explains the character’s savvy when faced with an even bigger terror such as the Jackal, but Gere was a great choice for the role to evolve the character with the story in convincing fashion. With relative ease, he’s able to introduce Mulqueen as a legitimate former terrorist who’s done time and doesn’t give a shit until he hears about who’s involved with the mission. Then, since the viewer is supposed to be on his side despite his former allegiances, Gere’s Mulqueen is able to explain enough about himself and convince the audience very well that it wasn’t his war, and he just wants to go home to Ireland. Following these discussions, showcasing his honest demeanor and sympathetic responses in conversations with people like Preston, Koslova, and Isabella, he makes the transition to cool-guy antihero in record time before becoming a true hero by the end who meant every word he said. Now, was it annoyingly cliché for Mulqueen to give Preston his “word” and have it be this unbreakable thing attached to our protagonist? Absolutely, but there was enough with the Mulqueen character that allowed for me to give it a pass.
The missed opportunity of these new characters was not seeing where the chemistry was. As big of a star as Sidney Poitier is, Preston didn’t have that relationship with Mulqueen that Mulqueen clearly had with Diane Venora’s Koslova, a dangerously underwritten supporting character who had a lot of potential within the story they were trying to tell. There was some heat there that deserved at least some exploration. Sure, things may have been muddied in the midst of the action had the two hooked up or something, but a strengthening of their friendship once the story progressed should have been considered. Sadly, Koslova’s time came and went much earlier than expected after playing such a major role in the first part of the film. This was The Jackal‘s biggest mistake. Her involvement in the picture didn’t look like it was going to be a factor since Venora was the least-known actor in the main cast, but they surprisingly did enough with Koslova to endear her to the viewer. We wanted to learn more about her and see her interact with Mulqueen more as the mission progressed, which is why the demise of her character hurt the film as badly as it did. Yes, the Jackal had to kill somebody close to the main cast to establish him as a threat, but I would argue that Isabella should have been the one to take the fall. As much as she inspired Mulqueen to jump into this job in the first place, she didn’t have a huge role in the story otherwise and her surprising return in the climax felt out of place and borderline inconceivable given the circumstances. Having the Jackal re-learn Isabella’s location and taking her out, forcing the rest of her family into protective custody, would give Mulqueen a new level of anger and bloodlust fit for a former member of the IRA.
With this, Koslova could be the only person who could reel Mulqueen back in from doing anything illegal and be the only one to really understand him on a personal level. At the same time, she could give him leeway when needed, strengthening their bond and subsequently the “B” story of the film. Basically, the burgeoning friendship between them was much more interesting than what the writers realized and had a lot more potential than the long-lost love angle that could never be rekindled between Mulqueen and Isabella. It was good to a point, as it explained Mulqueen’s backstory and soft side very well, but it jumped the shark in the third act. All the good that came with Mulqueen and Isabella’s story could have still been there, but Isabella should have taken Koslova’s place when the time came for the Jackal to make a defining kill. Once Mulqueen met Koslova and they conversed, things started to click. Sadly, she left the movie too early and he entered the film too late, as we almost all lose interest in the subplots before he’s inserted into the movie to save it. If Mulqueen was brought in sooner and Koslova was done correctly, The Jackal‘s legacy (if you could call it that) would be looked at a lot more favorably.
Regarding the Jackal himself, Bruce Willis was a great choice, representing the ice-cold, and at times unpredictable nature of the character very well. In a great line, it’s explained that he’s spent 20 years in a trade that doesn’t forgive error and he’s prevailed. This tells us all we need to know regarding his presentation. Edward Fox did a good job in making the Jackal somewhat more realistic in terms of his ability to hide incognito while performing violent acts at the switch of a button in the original film. In The Jackal, Willis does a good job at playing the villain as written, but admittedly, it’s what you would expect from a regular 90s action movie. Aside from a few random moments, he doesn’t do anything shocking like how Fox was able to in the simple and taut Fred Zinnemann thriller. With that being said, Willis doesn’t do a bad job. He is indeed a worthy antagonist and brings his movie star acting to add a lot of credibility to legitimatize this legendary assassin that no government can seem to stop for a whole new audience of American moviegoers. He plays cold and calculated very well, and it’s a nice change of pace because at this time, it was a rarity seeing Willis play a villain, especially one as dark as this. In certain moments, the right glance goes a long way in making Willis’s Jackal look like a killer or small throwaway lines like when he uses a girl named Maggie as a hostage and when he lets her go, he simply says without a care in the world, “You’ll remember this for the rest of your life”. Small stuff like this goes a long way in making this a memorable action film, especially the underrated 3rd person shot of the Jackal limping through the subway station and shooting a guy publicly after the guy says “Hey!” when he sees his gun. This is a monster of a man, so maybe getting a former terrorist to help isn’t the worst idea.
On the other hand, the writing is all over the place in regard to how he operates. In The Day of the Jackal, it was all about expert planning, simplicity, and an understated need for perfection in his job. In The Jackal, the villain’s process seems a little too elaborate at times, too big, and arguably unnecessary. The extreme attention to detail doesn’t seem to align with the character as much as it did in the original. Though this version of the Jackal is all about his precise planning, some of it just seems avoidable or even illogical at times. Why would he need to enter a famous boat race to get into the country or go through the hassle of buying a boat? Does that not seem a bit extra? He couldn’t think of one other way to sneak into the country in a more inconspicuous manner? Sure, it made sense once they explained it, but it still came off as a risky endeavor for someone trying to be incognito. It started to feel like the screenwriters just wanted to diversify the locations to liven up the imagery of the picture rather than write something that would fit a killer who moves in silence. In their defense, it did sort of work, but still. Speaking of a killer “moving in silence”, the disguises are crucial to the character and how he is able to move without being bothered in pursuit of his goal. As fun as it was seeing Willis in all of these fun gimmicks for entertainment purposes, they don’t really work for someone who’s trying to stay low-key. In The Day of the Jackal, they got this part right, but this “remake” of sorts threw the idea completely out the window. Though I will concede that it was fun seeing Willis look like Steven Seagal in one scene and a fat Canadian guy in another, they were so startling that it would make you look twice at them if they were in a public place.
I mentioned something like this in my review of The Day of the Jackal speaking of this remake in particular. There, I spoke about how certain disguises the character dons are so notable that your eyes are drawn to them, which should be the exact opposite of what a contract killer like the Jackal would want. For example, having the Jackal sport bleach blond hair in the climax in a sea of dark-haired people seems pretty illogical for a world-travelled assassin who can’t be recognized be almost anyone, right? Doesn’t this seem like a bad idea for someone who’s whole goal is to blend in to make for an easy escape out of anything? Going along with this, this quiet assassin’s whole plan is to try and make a quick kill of one of the most important people in the country and follow it up with an easy exit without a trace. With this in mind, why would he choose to be as close to his target as he ends up being, where he could be seen by authorities if they looked hard enough, and why would he pick such a large and destructive gun that attracts noise and attention and allows for such a large margin of error? If there is anything they should have taken from the original movie, going for a long-range, small and quiet gun would have made more sense for a character like this. Going this route instead, being as loud and destructive as possible, is the most American thing I’ve seen in an action movie in quite some time.
Even with these obvious transgressions and logistical issues, I still can’t help but admit I enjoyed The Jackal for its biggest selling point, and that’s the battle between Jackal and Mulqueen (Willis and Gere). It’s just a great matchup for action movie fans that gives off the “Big fight feel” needed when they finally come across each other. This is the part of the suspense done right, as the first half of the film is to show what both characters are capable of while playing up their connection through conversation or whatever else. You may not realize how good of a job they do of building these characters until the moment in which they finally cross paths after all these years in the Chicago harbor. It’s this ultra-cool slow motion shot of hero and villain, and the goosebumps are felt. Mulqueen is standing there like his entire life has been built for this exact moment. On the other hand, the Jackal, sporting his badass sunglasses that only add to the look of a callous hitman, turns and waves at him with a smile, basically begging for him to make a move. Argue all you want about the overall production or story, but this moment alone was pure action cinema. It was a moment in which you say to yourself, “Now, this is what I’ve been waiting for!”.
The only complaint I have is that they just needed to milk it a bit tiny bit longer before the Jackal went for the shot, so the moment really settles in.
Obviously, there were still a lot of other problems that have been rightfully pointed out by countless critics and fans alike. Sidney Poitier was underutilized and took a major backseat once Mulqueen is introduced, there’s the aforementioned underwritten character of Koslova who had a lot of potential, the relatively boring first act that practically begs you to get lost in the details, the clichéd Russian mobsters, the general illogic, and how long it takes to introduce the protagonist. When they had chances to further the relationship between characters, they just added another twist instead of just writing more meaningful dialogue too. For example, Isabella is worried and tells Koslova directly that she doesn’t think they can stop the Jackal, but Koslova just tells her to take her family away, and they smile at each other as if there is some sort of mutual respect, which doesn’t make sense considering Isabella’s statement. The Jackal getting chased by hijackers did not fit the action of a character everyone is supposed to be afraid. If there was one moment where he should have just trapped them all in the garage and mowed them down with a straight face for testing him, that would have been it. Additionally, the Jackal also shows emotion at the wrong times. I appreciate Willis trying to pull off a more complete performance, but the sadistic hostage situation and how worried he looked in the ending seemed like a completely different villain compared to the one they were building for 95% of the film. Also, as much as it made sense for Mulqueen to have this personal vendetta with the Jackal, it wasn’t nearly as effective the other way around. Actually, it affected the antagonist’s characterization too much. To hammer the point home about how cold-hearted the character is, it would have been much more effective had they gone the Thanos route when faced with the Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Endgame, with the Jackal not remembering Mulqueen or Isabella at all or only faintly being reminded about the two on his deathbed.
Him remembering Mulqueen’s full name and the two’s backstory while bringing emotion into it just felt like too much of a trope.
Jack Black’s Ian asked a lot of questions for someone who regularly deals with illegal activity too. They probably just took one look at Black and decided the character needed to be stupider. Seriously, what the fuck do you think he’s going to do with this gun that has the power of a cannon? He’s not going to put it in his garage, you jackass! Furthermore, I couldn’t help but mention how Gere’s Mulqueen delivers the line that he knows the Jackal and has seen him up close because he says it like he’s lying. He reveals this information to them like a shyster, so for the first part of the mission, I actually thought he was going to try and escape or reveal the truth to the FBI after some failures during their pursuit. When we start to see he was telling the truth, it made that scene even more perplexing as to why Gere acted in such a manner. There’s that and Sidney Poitier’s over exaggerated hand gesture in the opening sequence when he tells Terek “Alright, that’s enough!”. It was so over-the-top, it had to be mentioned. Seriously, you need to see it. It’s laughable. Lastly, there’s the hackneyed and excessive third act which basically shows the biggest issue between The Day of the Jackal and how well its suspense is done in the most minimalist way possible, and The Jackal‘s response being the extremely loud, gunfire-filled, overdone American action movie finale that misses the point of what made the original as good as it was. Of course, this goes back to my initial argument about why it’s so hard to compare the two movies because of how this film doesn’t even try to emulate its predecessor, turning it into a regular, albeit decently entertaining action movie rather than a hard-to-forget and somewhat chilling political thriller.
The Jackal is entertaining enough for action movie fans who love an engaging, larger-than-life battle between hero and villain. This part they do right, and the matchup between our leads is a good one. However, when you look closer at the story details, characters, plot developments, and overall missed opportunities, the issues are too glaring to ignore, and it hurts the feature in totality. Even so, there’s still enough fun to be had in this relatively exciting thriller, though there’s a good chance you won’t revisit it.
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