Espionage media has seen better days. In recent years there have been high points like the Bond outing No Time To Die, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Bridge of Spies, or excellent series like The Day of the Jackal or Slow Horses. On the other hand, streamers and studios have seemingly seen the genre as a quick (though sometimes expensive) cash grab, with The Gray Man or Ghosted coming across as half-baked replicas of better, more inspired spy films and series. Alarum, directed by Michael Polish, boasts a top-tier action movie cast and some genuinely good ideas, but the execution is sadly lacking, creating a disappointing experience overall.
What Is ‘Alarum’ About?

We meet Joe (Scott Eastwood) and Laura (Willa Fitzgerald) in the middle of a mellow winter vacation of sorts. The pair are rogue spies, who quit the espionage life after falling in love and getting married. But their getaway is ruined when a fleet of spy organizations come knocking, guns-a-blazing in search of a ‘flight pill,’ a MacGuffin hard drive, suspecting the pair of joining rogue spy network Alarum. The pair have to survive fleets of baddies sent by the CIA’s Ronald Burbridge (D.W. Moffett), including legendary killer Chester (Sylvester Stallone) and sociopathic operative Orlin (Mike Colter).
Alarum first and foremost boasts a talented cast. Scott Eastwood is a strong lead with overall believable action credentials. Stallone has a simple role (and not one too far outside his rhetorical wheelhouse), but he’s effective and watchable in it. Colter has been rocking top-shelf roles like Luke Cage and Evil’s complex priest, David Acosta, and he’s memorable here (with one central caveat, below). Fitzgerald was exceptional in Strange Darling, and she’s good here when she is onscreen–though her presence is regrettably limited for much of the film.
‘Alarum’ Comes Up Short in Concept and Execution

Image via Lionsgate

Alarum is hampered by three major issues: confusing development, conceptual limitations, and uneven executions. Twists, betrayals, and various organizations are common elements of projects about spycraft, but here the development is difficult to follow almost as a rule. Characters turn on each other at a moment’s notice, always on behalf of under-defined organizations with opaque goals. Their inadequate development makes the plot difficult to pin down (it’s best just to go with it), but it also limits our understanding of the characters. Similarly, the action set pieces are a mixed bag. Sometimes hard-to-follow fights take place in barren, boring forests, or an under-decorated room of a nondescript house. Other scenes see Stallone using a hand cannon to amusingly one-shot nameless henchmen, or Fitzgerald surviving a drone strike by creating a makeshift igloo out of the bodies of her freshly murdered enemies–these are solid action movie moments, highlighting the film’s tragically wasted potential.

Related

‘1992’ Review: A Thoughtful, Imperfect Thriller Anchored by Ray Liotta’s Final Performance

The great actor gives this flawed thriller something more.

It’s hard to escape the feeling that the lore, characters, action sequences, and locales weren’t fully thought through. There are moments when it works, but they’re few and far between, and could almost universally be improved–even when they’re good, they could be great. It’s unfortunate because everyone involved is excellent elsewhere… there’s a massive amount of wasted potential here, and it infects every scene. Even performers who give their best find difficulty latching onto the project in uncharacteristic ways. Take Colter, for instance: as the sociopath Orlin, he appears to have the most fun out of anyone else in the film, but he’s still not given engaging enough tasks for the project to work as well as it could. It’s a film drowning in missed opportunities.
A Spy Thriller with an ‘Alarum’-ing Number of Issues

Image via Lionsgate

Alarum is a genuine disappointment, putting a set of strong performers (who do quite well in action-heavy projects) in a situation that could produce memorable, excellent action scenes. It needs extra shine in the script and a stronger directorial vision to do so, which essentially damns the film to action thriller purgatory. There are good moments, some strong ideas, and interesting performance choices made by stars trying to make the most of it, and all that should be praised. Still, even committed performances can’t quite move the needle when the concept of the scene is undercooked, wasting a talented cast and what could be an engaging premise for no comprehensible reason at all.
Alarum comes to theaters and VOD services on January 17.

Review

Alarum boasts a solid cast and some interesting concepts and scenes, but it’s mostly a parade of missed potential.

Release Date

January 17, 2025

Director

Michael Polish

Cast

Scott Eastwood
, Sylvester Stallone
, Willa Fitzgerald
, Mike Colter
, D.W. Moffett
, Isis Valverde
, Anton Narinskiy
, Joel Cohen
, La Monde Byrd
, Beau Bommarito
, Bret Aaron Knower
, Derek Polen
, Leslee Emmett

Runtime

95 Minutes

Pros

The talented cast manage to add charisma and engaging moments where the script allows.
Certain scenes boast strong action movie concepts or set-pieces.

Cons

The plot is needlessly convoluted even by spy thriller standards, without the tight plotting to make it work.
Many action sequences, locations, and twists need stronger conceptualization and execution.
The cast is largely wasted thanks to insufficiently memorable character choices. and scenes.

Release Date

January 17, 2025

Director

Michael Polish

Cast

Scott Eastwood
, Sylvester Stallone
, Willa Fitzgerald
, Mike Colter
, D.W. Moffett
, Isis Valverde
, Anton Narinskiy
, Joel Cohen
, La Monde Byrd
, Beau Bommarito
, Bret Aaron Knower
, Derek Polen
, Leslee Emmett

Runtime

95 Minutes

Get tickets