Review of Cold Pursuit (2019) by Thequietgamer — 04 Feb 2017

One thing is for sure, you can't say this isn't original. The overall idea behind the movie is to make the viewer feel like they are actually partaking in the action. It does this through the use of a first-person perspective. Essentially this meant to help you feel like you are the movie's silent protagonist "Henry." While it isn't quite able to make this happen, it at the very least is used in a number of inventive ways that deliver cool set-pieces.

The overall movie is just batcrap crazy. The plot is insane and it has this off-the-wall sense of humor. To be honest it's pretty juvenile and dumb. Yet somehow the movie is able to use that to it's advantage. There are some genuine laughs brought on from Sharlto Copley who gives a delightfully bonkers performance. It's evident he was having a lot of fun. There's a sort of anything goes nature to the movie. You really have no idea what crazy crap you'll see next and that's a lot of fun. The movie really does feel like a video game that's been brought to life. Something that's both a good and a bad thing. You've got to have that gamer mentality and a taste for immature and often crude humor in order to be able to get into it. What I'm trying to say is show up to this for the action and to see whatever other random madness is happening onscreen.

The first-person perspective does a lot to make this a fresh face in the crowded action genre. That being said the execution could be a little better. It takes a bit for your eyes to fully adjust to the movie's perspective. That's because the camera doesn't capture a true first-person experience. There's a weird fishbowl quality to how things look that needs to be overcome. I don't know about you guys, but the world doesn't have a concave look to me. So there are some kinks to work through and despite the imagination and creativity this is far from high art. It's just simply an out of this world and out of it's mind action movie with some new ideas to offer. It's tone and wackiness won't appeal to everyone, but those who stick around will be treated to some great action and plenty of other doses of awesome weirdness. At the very least, it definitely isn't afraid to do it's own thing.