The 355 (2022)
July 30, 2022 9:39 AM - Subscribe
A team of international secret agents join forces to retrieve a stolen superweapon. Starring Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Bingbing Fan, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong'o.
Now streaming on Amazon Prime.
Now streaming on Amazon Prime.
I went to see this at the height of the omicron wave fears, when it was released. I figured hey, Tuesday is the least-attended movie day, it's at my tiny local theatre, it's a matinee, it'll be fine. There were three other people in the theatre, but I guess we were all devoted to seeing some favorite actresses get to kick some ass (and possibly, if they were like me, see their boo, Sebastian Stan, be smoothly sexy and evil). It was totally worth it. Is it good? No. Is it fun? Yes. Does everyone get to crash a nefarious auction gala in formalwear? HELL YES. Does Lupita get to say "I'm in"? Fuck yeah. That's the kind of stuff that makes life worth living.
Anyway, I watched it again the other day when I noticed it on Prime, and I still had a lot of fun. We've talked here before about getting to have less-than-stellar action movies centering women for a change, and I thought this was a very good-looking entry in that field.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 11:40 AM on July 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
Anyway, I watched it again the other day when I noticed it on Prime, and I still had a lot of fun. We've talked here before about getting to have less-than-stellar action movies centering women for a change, and I thought this was a very good-looking entry in that field.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 11:40 AM on July 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
I did think Sebastian Stan’s hair should have been floppier.
posted by skycrashesdown at 11:57 AM on July 30, 2022
posted by skycrashesdown at 11:57 AM on July 30, 2022
Yeah, not much to add - I watched it for the actresses. Too bad the movie was kind of all over the place and didn't give them much to work with but overall it was pretty for an actioner.
posted by porpoise at 12:38 PM on July 30, 2022
posted by porpoise at 12:38 PM on July 30, 2022
I did think Sebastian Stan’s hair should have been floppier.
If you want Sebastian Stan to have more versatile hair you should have got Taylor Kitsch in the first place.
posted by biffa at 2:39 PM on July 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you want Sebastian Stan to have more versatile hair you should have got Taylor Kitsch in the first place.
posted by biffa at 2:39 PM on July 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you want Sebastian Stan to have more versatile hair you should have got Taylor Kitsch in the first place.
Well, now I have to make a Fanfare post for the wonderfully awful movie that features both of them, The Covenant.
posted by Kitteh at 4:05 PM on July 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
Well, now I have to make a Fanfare post for the wonderfully awful movie that features both of them, The Covenant.
posted by Kitteh at 4:05 PM on July 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
Yeah, slight film. I thought Nyong'o's nerd outfits were very cute.
posted by praemunire at 5:10 PM on July 30, 2022
posted by praemunire at 5:10 PM on July 30, 2022
Well, now I have to make a Fanfare post for the wonderfully awful movie that features both of them, The Covenant.
Plus Holden from The Expanse and The Deep from The Boys! Trying hard to resist. Had a quick look at the description, I'm going to assume it's not set in Ipswich, Suffolk.
posted by biffa at 12:49 AM on July 31, 2022 [2 favorites]
Plus Holden from The Expanse and The Deep from The Boys! Trying hard to resist. Had a quick look at the description, I'm going to assume it's not set in Ipswich, Suffolk.
posted by biffa at 12:49 AM on July 31, 2022 [2 favorites]
MIA
'Fox Force Five.' Fox, as in we’re
a bunch of foxy chicks. Force, as
in we’re a force to be reckoned
with. Five, as in there’s one..two
..three..four..five of us. There
was a blonde one, Sommerset O’Neal
from that show 'Baton Rouge,' she
was the leader. A Japanese one, a
black one, a French one and a
brunette one, me. We all had
special skills. Sommerset had a
photographic memory, the Japanese
fox was a kung fu master, the black
girl was a demolition expert, the
French fox‘ specialty was sex…
VINCENT
What was your specialty?
MIA
Knives. The character I played,
Raven McCoy, her background was she
was raised by circus performers.
So she grew up doing a knife act.
According to the show, she was the
deadliest woman in the world with a
knife.
But because she grew up in a
circus, she was also something of
an acrobat. She could do
illusions, she was a trapeze artist
— when you’re keeping the world
safe from evil, you never know when
being a trapeze artist’s gonna come
in handy. And she knew a zillion
old jokes her grandfather, an old
vaudevillian, taught her. If we
woulda got picked up, they woulda
worked in a gimmick where every
episode I woulda told an old joke.
posted by oldnumberseven at 3:46 AM on July 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
'Fox Force Five.' Fox, as in we’re
a bunch of foxy chicks. Force, as
in we’re a force to be reckoned
with. Five, as in there’s one..two
..three..four..five of us. There
was a blonde one, Sommerset O’Neal
from that show 'Baton Rouge,' she
was the leader. A Japanese one, a
black one, a French one and a
brunette one, me. We all had
special skills. Sommerset had a
photographic memory, the Japanese
fox was a kung fu master, the black
girl was a demolition expert, the
French fox‘ specialty was sex…
VINCENT
What was your specialty?
MIA
Knives. The character I played,
Raven McCoy, her background was she
was raised by circus performers.
So she grew up doing a knife act.
According to the show, she was the
deadliest woman in the world with a
knife.
But because she grew up in a
circus, she was also something of
an acrobat. She could do
illusions, she was a trapeze artist
— when you’re keeping the world
safe from evil, you never know when
being a trapeze artist’s gonna come
in handy. And she knew a zillion
old jokes her grandfather, an old
vaudevillian, taught her. If we
woulda got picked up, they woulda
worked in a gimmick where every
episode I woulda told an old joke.
posted by oldnumberseven at 3:46 AM on July 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
is it feminism that women are now getting to make ridiculous action movies that are just as bad as the ones with a primarily male cast?
When I heard about this movie, I was reminded of an old Tumblr post about an imaginary movie about a group of action heroines fronted by Helen Mirren in which the only male character is pure eye candy, can't find it now though.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:42 PM on August 1, 2022
When I heard about this movie, I was reminded of an old Tumblr post about an imaginary movie about a group of action heroines fronted by Helen Mirren in which the only male character is pure eye candy, can't find it now though.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:42 PM on August 1, 2022
is it feminism that women are now getting to make ridiculous action movies that are just as bad as the ones with a primarily male cast?
I think so! That's why I watched the movie. I was hoping it'd be better.
The direction and editing were terrible. There were whole parts of the movie where it was hard to tell what was going on.
My favorite part was when two of the women's hairstyles changed during the gunfight in the hotel. One woman's hair was down, then it was up; another woman's hair changed vice versa. I understand you might want to put your hair up in a fight, but these seemed like editing fuckups.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:34 AM on August 2, 2022
I think so! That's why I watched the movie. I was hoping it'd be better.
The direction and editing were terrible. There were whole parts of the movie where it was hard to tell what was going on.
My favorite part was when two of the women's hairstyles changed during the gunfight in the hotel. One woman's hair was down, then it was up; another woman's hair changed vice versa. I understand you might want to put your hair up in a fight, but these seemed like editing fuckups.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:34 AM on August 2, 2022
I said of this movie "This is what happens when your Kill Bill fanfic is fed through some AI algorithm and then it gains sentience." But I didn't hate it.
I think everyone involved enjoyed the vacations to the locations this was filmed in and I remember thinking the wigs were pretty good. And considering how terrible a lot of the MCU wigs are, that's praise.
posted by edencosmic at 6:45 PM on August 2, 2022
I think everyone involved enjoyed the vacations to the locations this was filmed in and I remember thinking the wigs were pretty good. And considering how terrible a lot of the MCU wigs are, that's praise.
posted by edencosmic at 6:45 PM on August 2, 2022
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posted by skycrashesdown at 9:41 AM on July 30, 2022 [3 favorites]