Recently, the list of Netflix hits in the United States saw the rise of an unlikely contender. The 2023 film was far from critically acclaimed upon release, initially getting a Rotten Tomatoes score of 0% from critics, earning it a spot among all-time worst movies on the site. The audience reacted quite differently, though, giving it a score of 78% for being enjoyable and a lighthearted, if somewhat brainless, action flick. That said, the John Cena starrer was a massive box-office flop, scraping together only 25% of production costs.
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Directed by Pierre Morel (of Taken and other renowned, adrenaline-fueled action flicks), Freelance recently seems to have found vindication after being added to Netflix in August. Quickly rising in popularity, it has since claimed the seventh spot on the top 10 most popular films on Netflix in the US.
Fast, Funny, and Fairly Obvious: Freelance is a Netflix Hit
Freelance has a fairly simple plot. John Cena plays Mason Pettits, a bored lawyer stuck at a tedious desk job. Being a medically retired special forces operative, he is contacted by an old friend to take up a freelance job as a bodyguard to a washed-up journalist. Enter Alison Brie (Community) as Claire Wellington, the desperate journalist looking to interview a vindictive dictator, President Juan Venegas (Juan Pablo Raba), of the imaginary South American country of Paldonia.
Interestingly, years earlier, it was a failed assassination attempt on Raba that had injured Mason and taken him off the field. After reluctantly accepting the job, Mason and Claire arrive in Paldonia and, just as the latter is on the verge of getting the scoop of a lifetime, they are caught in the middle of a coup orchestrated by President Venegas’ own people. The trio flees into the jungle, launching into a journey that strengthens their bond while they deftly fight off bad guys.
Overall, it is the interactions between the three leads and their strong personalities that carry the film. Raba is impeccably dressed and has incredible charisma to go with it. John Cena plays the role of the somewhat dumb, but oddly endearing action hero to a T. And Brie uses her sharp comedy skills to deliver some well-timed humor. The dynamic between the characters is pretty enjoyable to witness.
The narrative itself and the themes the film explores are nothing too groundbreaking, of course. The coup, the one-on-one fight sequences, all the jungle action — it’s nothing new. But then it was never meant to be. The movie was designed to be a semi-mindless action film, and as that, it absolutely delivers. So, it is perhaps unfair for it to have become the target of all the critical reviews when it never pretended to be anything more than a typical genre film.
The special effects are pretty well done, which is a nice surprise. And even though the bad guys are all Stormtrooper-level terrible shots, the action sequences are still well-choreographed. Overall, this is a movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously and, honestly, neither should you. This is no Inglorious Basterds, so going in with massive expectations just doesn’t make sense.
Instead, approach the film like it was meant to be — like a popcorn flick that fits right into lazy Friday nights in. Like many reviewers on the internet have already noted, this one was never meant for a theatrical release, but it’s great for streaming, which explains its sudden rise in popularity since being added to Netflix. Basically, Freelance is nothing thought-provoking. It will not blow your mind. But what it will do is thoroughly entertain you, but only if you let it.
John Cena can next be seen Peacemaker Season 2, streaming on HBO Max this month. Alison Brie’s new horror movie Together is in theaters now.
What do you think of Freelance? Let us know in the comments.
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image courtesy of Netflix -
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