'Jolt' A Review

Jolt is an action movie about Lindy(Kate Beckinsale) a woman with a physiological condition that prevents her from regulating cortisol making her fast, strong, and quick tempered. The movie opens with a narrated montage of her upbringing- being experimented on, the military etc. As an adult in the present, under the direction of her psychologist Dr. Munchin(Stanley Tucci) and with the protection of a electroshock vest rig, she attempts to lead a normal life. After a promising date her suitor is mysteriously killed and she sets out to avenge him.

Beckinsale is a great action star, her physical presence and her ability to bring reality to the more absurd plot machinations this kind of genre can fall into is unquestionable(see the Underworld series). She's a joy to see on screen but she simply doesn't get enough to do. Too much time is spent on the shoe-horned semi-contrived emotional journey of the character when the fact is this is an action movie, we want to see Beckinsale kick ass and, although she kicks some, she doesn't do it nearly enough. The support cast is all solid, Tucci is great per usual, Bobby Cannavale and Laverne Cox are wonderful but underutilized, the real sore spot is Jai Courtney who continues to have a career solely based on his chiseled jaw line.

Visually its got a bit of that rich neon kind of vibe, soundtrack pumps, but ulitamely, whether because of the script of budget constraints, there isn't enough action and too much time is spent on the somewhat unnecessary 'twists' of the plot and attempting to bring arcs to the characters which taken together hinders the momentum, rendering a pace that fits and starts when it should pound. Ultimately it's kinda boring.

Currently available on Amazon.

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