‘Heart of Stone’ suits up Gal Gadot in a not-so-wonderful spy thriller

Posted By: Sophia Andrew

Posted On: August 12, 2023

They tried to make a spy series with Gal Gadot in “Heart of Stone,” but it feels like a cheaper version of “Mission: Impossible.” It doesn’t let Gal Gadot’s wonderful charm shine through.

The movie is about two hours long and has some good action scenes, but overall, it’s like a dull and unexciting extra in the “You might like” section on Netflix, even though you’ll likely not enjoy it much.

Imagine a funny take on the “Spy v. Spy” comic strip, and that’s a bit like what “Heart of Stone” feels like. The interesting idea in the story is that Gal Gadot’s character, Rachel Stone, starts as a newbie spy at Britain’s MI6. Her job is to give information to experienced field agents while sitting in a van.

But surprise! She’s actually a super skilled spy for a secretive group called the Charter. Her MI6 colleagues don’t even know about this group. The Charter uses a super smart AI called the Heart to deal with dangers.

In the story, Stone is only known by names from playing cards, like the Jack of Hearts. Her Charter contacts include her boss, who’s kind of bossy (played by Sophie Okonedo), and a tech expert (Matthias Schweighöfer from “Army of Thieves”) who gives her info through an earpiece.

This tech guy quickly figures out the chances of things happening, kind of like the futuristic tech in the movie “Minority Report” and the TV show “Person of Interest.”

All of this secretive stuff happens without Stone’s awesome MI6 team knowing about it. The team is led by Parker (played by Jamie Dornan, who was in “Fifty Shades of Grey” a few years back).

They’re all super skilled. But then there’s a clever hacker (Alia Bhatt from “RRR”) who sneaks into their communication system.

This happens in the beginning, before the credits roll, and it takes about 20 minutes. This part is set in the beautiful Italian Alps.

Right around that time, something surprising happens in “Heart of Stone.” This part actually gives us more hope for the movie, but sadly, the movie doesn’t really live up to that hope.

Instead, things get a bit complicated with spies playing games against each other, and it’s not always easy to follow. The story also takes us to different places around the world and shows Stone being both tough and getting into tough situations.

The movie is directed by Tom Harper, who also made “The Aeronauts,” another streaming movie that didn’t do so well. “Heart of Stone” tries to use Gal Gadot’s natural charm – she plays a tough spy who also has feelings – but it doesn’t really bring enough unique stuff to make it stand out as anything more than a wannabe version of the “Mission” movies.

At least in Gadot’s previous action-packed Netflix movie, “Red Notice,” there was a fun and humorous vibe added to the usual action style. But in “Heart of Stone,” even the exciting scenes, like one on a blimp, don’t really make watching the whole movie feel worth it.

Now, it’s fair to say that anyone can make this kind of thrilling story, and Gadot is impressive as the main character, even though she’s not a superhero who can dodge bullets.

But the way “Heart of Stone” starts in the middle of the action and doesn’t give much background about Stone makes it a bit confusing. She doesn’t really stand out from all the other spy characters we’ve seen before in movies.

In the end, this movie seems like it’s made by taking parts from other movies and putting them together. Even though it has good intentions, the different parts don’t fit perfectly.

“Heart of Stone” is available on Netflix from August 11 and is suitable for teenagers and older audiences.

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