Stratton

(spoiler free)

Originally meant to have Henry Cavill in the leading role, ‘Stratton’ is an action movie based on the novel series of the same name written by Duncan Falconer. It follows special boat service operator, John Stratton, as he attempts to track down a terrorist who is in possession of a stolen weapon. The director tasked with adapting this novel series for the big screen was Simon West. He certainly has some notable action credentials under his belt including the classic ‘Con Air’. So could his previous experience in the genre help to make ‘Stratton’ a success?

Ultimately Cavill didn’t end up in the titular role, this instead fell to actor Dominic Cooper. He’s a charismatic enough lead for the film but his strengths definitely lay more with the action elements of his character than the dramatic ones. Nonetheless he’s good in the role. Starring alongside him are a collection of performers including Tom Felton, Austin Stowell, Derek Jacobi & Gemma Chan. It was Chan’s character who always came across as the most interesting so it’s a shame that audiences don’t really get a chance to get to know her. The rest of the cast all do an adequate job with Jacobi offering some comic relief in an odd but welcome addition to the group of characters. The fairly standard performances come as a result of the unoriginal narrative. It’s really nothing we haven’t seen before and the fact that character motives/development aren’t given enough attention never helped the film.

Thankfully the action sequences included in ‘Stratton’ make up for the more lacking story. With a director such as West this should be expected, and whilst many of the sequences feel like less exciting versions of recent James Bond missions they are effective within the film. The opening sequence feels like a level straight out of a video game and does well to get the audiences invested in the events unfolding. This is followed up by several shorter chase scenes in the mid section of the film, these never fully meet their potential but they prevent the film from ever dragging. All of this is building towards a surprisingly exciting finale which constantly escalates it’s action making for an entertaining ending showcasing this directors talent for filming action. If only the surrounding narrative could have been this engaging it would have enhanced this action even more so.

Although at only ninety minutes the narrative issues never become an overly significant problem. However, if an extra ten or fifteen minutes had been devoted to developing the story and characters perhaps something more memorable could have been created here. Despite this ‘Stratton’ still manages to be an enjoyable action flick. West’s talent in showcasing the action moments is for sure the saving grace. Don’t go in expecting something similar to Bourne or Bond standard and you should be able to have a good time here. 

Rating – 6/10

Question: What is your favourite Dominic Cooper film?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)

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