Stuntman (2024) – Review and opinion about the movie [UIP]. A love letter to the entire industry from David Leitch

One of the industry’s top former stuntmen returns to the set to help find the missing movie star while reconnecting with his ex-girlfriend, the film’s director. A simple task becomes even less simple when a body is found during the investigation…

Here’s a movie in which Ryan Gosling plays a professional stuntman, replacing Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the more dangerous scenes, but since he’s not the stuntman himself, a real professional, replacing Troy Lindsay Brown in the more dangerous scenes. It’s supposed to be normal But given the nature of the production and the love Leitch still feels for his former profession, this is kind of… inappropriate.

Today’s film is a very loose remake, a different take on the old series with Lee Majors. The main character’s title and profession are identical, as is his name – Colt Savers – but that’s where the similarities end, as far as I know. But the most important thing is the spirit of the series that has not changed. The original “The Fall Guy” was primarily a platform where anonymous stunt professionals could express themselves artistically, and in each subsequent episode they set up new stunts, create new concepts, and push boundaries. This is exactly the spirit of the stunts that Leitch wanted to convey in his film, which he largely achieves. This does not mean that the film is not without flaws…

Stuntman (2024) – Review and opinion about the movie [UIP]. The text could have been improved further

First of all, the scenario is somewhat predictable. I respect the ingenuity with which the mystery that drives the film is set up – throughout the entire film, clues are laid out that form the ultimate plot, and although the whole situation is a bit ridiculous, it holds together within the logic suggested by the world of the film. However, more effort could have been made to at least hide the opponents, So I can’t see almost from the beginning who the bad guy is going to be (even if I don’t know why at first). A more engaging mystery would help keep viewers interested because…

This movie is simply too long. And 126 minutes isn’t terribly long, but the clarity of the plot means that the middle can drag on for a while, and the finale itself is simply tiring. You get the impression that the movie is practically over, but then it turns out that we still have the final act to go. I think the idea was to incorporate as many exciting scenes into the script as possible; But it’s important to find a good balance between action and plot, and in my opinion it didn’t quite work here.

Stuntman (2024) – Review and opinion about the movie [UIP]. David Leitch knows how to shoot

Good! I complained, so let’s move on to the positives. You might want Gosling to be more like Keanu Reeves or Tom Cruise and do most of his scenes himself, but I still think he was the perfect choice for the role of Seavers. He has just the right personality to sell the audience on the idea that he can do all the things his character can do, and he’s downright funny – he knows when and how to play something to make it funny. Of course, he can’t do everything alone, so it’s very good to partner with equally talented people. Emily Blunt already has a gift for comedy, but here her amazing chemistry with Gosling pays off even more – and it never occurred to me for a moment that it was just an acting game, and that they weren’t a real couple (I hope John Krasinski isn’t the jealous type.) On the other hand, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is one of those actors who can play goofy superheroes without any problem, which fits perfectly with the character of Tom Ryder – a star who is all about himself and like the light. Parody of Tom Cruise. And that’s just the main cast. We’ll also see Hannah Waddingham, Winston Duke, and Teresa Palmer in less important, but still important roles, each of them expressive and funny in their own way.

However, the most important thing is of course the stunts – after all, the title obliges you to do so. Leach took the cameras as much as he could.So we have fireworks, rolling cars (supposedly this was a record for the most revolutions made by a car), jumping off cliffs, falling from heights, and dragging Gosling down the street on a broken container door, hand in hand. Fighting and everything you can imagine. The vast majority of the performances leave a strong impression, but in a few moments I had the feeling that the director had gone a little too far with the stunning presentation, for example, surfing on trees in the street looks terribly artificial, even though it was. It was actually filmed on location, with an actor at the door in question. However, someone decided that “more sparks would be helpful”, so they were enhanced in post-production, making the final effect a bit…artificial. However, as in Cruise’s films, just knowing that most of what we’re seeing has already been filmed makes us watch the next event with a smile on our faces.

“Stuntman” is, on the one hand, a simple movie focused on entertaining people, and on the other hand, a powerful display of stunt art crafted by some of the best people in the industry. The script could definitely use some tweaking, but it’s still a lot of fun, and it’s easier to appreciate when you see it on the big screen. I am for it.