Anthony Mackie and Frank Grillo lead new Netflix action movie Point Blank

Netflix recently released a new action movie starring MCU castmates Anthony Mackie and Frank Grillo, should you be adding Point Blank to your list? 

Netflix has been cranking out movies in general but they’ve had a very solid run on action movies thus far this year. We’ve given you reviews on the star-studded Triple Frontier, the incredibly bloody Polar and the tense movie Close. Now we bring you the odd couple action movie with Point Blank.

Starting with its very recognizable cast, Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Endgame), Frank Grillo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River), Teyonah Paris (If Beale Street Could Talk) and many more, Point Blank will catch a lot of people’s attention. Grillo and Mackie have worked together before in the Captain America movies so they’ve seen each other in action and the movie wastes no time getting straight into that action.

The story

At the start of the movie, we are introduced to Grillo’s character, Abe, as we see a gunshot go off in a large house and him jump out of a window fleeing the scene. He’s being chased by two men in masks and has been hit. From there we see another man, seemingly his partner (though we find out later it’s his brother Mateo), realizing that things have not gone smoothly and rushing to find him. In the chase, Abe is involved in an accident and goes to the hospital.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to Mackie’s character, Paul, as he’s at home with his wife Taryn (Paris). She’s pregnant and the young couple are preparing for parenthood. Mackie has to go into work (he’s a nurse) and it’s there that he crosses paths with Abe. Abe is his patient and Mateo needs him out of the hospital so he takes drastic measures. Stealing Paul’s information, he kidnaps his pregnant wife and tells Paul to break Abe out of the hospital if he wants his wife back.

Of course, this does not go smoothly and we spend the rest of the movie on the run with the pair as they are being pursued by the police and a gangster named Big D. We find out along the way that there’s more to this story than meets the eye.

The action

None of the action scenes are necessarily anything to write home about. There really only one long fight and it is a fun one but you’re not going to be comparing it to anything out of John Wick. There are a few gun standoffs that get pretty intense but the movie does more with the story than it does with the action.

Don’t confuse this with there being a lack of action. There are car chases, chases on foot, fights, and shootouts throughout and the movie doesn’t drag at any point. With a run-time of 86 minutes, they make the most of their time. However, the reason that they are running is more important than the actual fighting in this movie, which in my opinion, is a good thing.

The fun

One way that Point Blank tries to keep things fun is through the music. The soundtrack features a ton of hits from the 80s including: “Here I go Again” from Whitesnake, “Rise Above” from Black Flag, and “Always” from Atlantic Star. Most of the music comes from the late 70s through the 90s with one or two wild cards but the music stands out from the scenes. Most of the songs don’t necessarily fit what’s happening on-screen, intentionally.

There are also quite a few one-liners, including one scene where Abe and Paul are trying to commandeer a car and the driver tells Abe that she has pepper spray in her purse. Abe simply says back: “I have a gun in my pants,” and the scene jumps to the lady outside of her car and them driving off.

However, my favorite character arrives late in the movie. Big D, played by Markice Moore (The Paynes, Snowfall), is the notorious gangster that we keep hearing about throughout the movie. When we meet him he seems as dangerous as he’s been described, however, that quickly changes and he becomes the biggest bright spot in the movie. Almost everything he says and does is hilarious and his character easily became the most interesting.

Overall

I would say that Point Blank wanted to be a lot of things that it didn’t quite end up being. You don’t really get invested in the characters because of the immediacy of the action and the pace that the movie moves. You don’t really care about the villains because of these things either but the movie is easy to follow and does have some fun moments. It’s also a quick watch which I know can be important if you have a specific window to fill with something to watch.

While this one isn’t likely to be a hit, it was good to see Mackie appear in a movie that is at least watchable, unlike the disastrous IO which I wish I hadn’t wasted my time on.

Point Blank is currently streaming on Netflix.