The spy thriller genre has been a popular feature of recent years, with a new invigorated audience flocking to screens to see the iconic James Bond battle it out in the highly successful Skyfall, as well as showing a keen interest in Kingsman: The Secret Service, released earlier this year. But thrills are difficult to get right and sometimes things just fall completely apart. This is where Child 44 comes in.
Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House), this new addition boasts a star-studded cast including Tom Hardy (in the lead role as Leo Demidov), Noomi Rapace as Raisa Demidova (whose previous notable acting credits include the Swedish film adaptations of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and the formidable Gary Oldman, who portrays General Nesterov. Child 44 is, of course, based on Tom Rob Smith’s novel of the same name, which surely means with source material this promising that Child 44 is an exceptional cinematic success? Right? Not so much.
The basic plot centres on Demidov uncovering a series of brutal child murders committed by a serial killer at the height of Soviet rule, during Stalin’s era. Whilst this all sounds riveting, the end result is an overdrawn jumble of multiple sub-plots and becomes so distorted you may become confused with what you are even watching. Sitting at around 137 minutes long – that’s over 2 hours of bizarre bleakness – it’s undeniable that this particular feature is just way too long and drawn out for its own good. Unfortunately, often is the habit of Hollywood films to stretch running times to insufferable lengths when they could have spent less time and achieved far greater success.
Want to read the rest of the review and hear the final verdict? Check it out over here.
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