Gal Gadot stars as Rachel Stone, a secret agent whose cover within the MI6 is blown after a trusted ally betrays her and leaves her crew members dead.
Left with her wits and will, Stone goes after a mysterious hacker named Keya whose skills have her working for a vengeful individual out to use a powerful weapon to change the world.
Over the years, we have been inundated with countless spy movies, some of which end up repeating what has come before. Netflix's Heart of Stone is no different from most of them but it keeps your attention thanks to a charismatic lead and some eye-popping visuals.
The title is a pun which references the last name of the eponymous character and the object of the film's conflict, the latter being basically 'Godseye', the powerful machine we first saw in Fast 7.
It's good to see Wonder Woman star Gadot take on more action roles. Here, her character's strong moral code makes her question some of the things other spies don't.
As Rachel Stone, Gadot steers the narrative where it needs to go and her charisma is more than enough to keep some focused on what she is doing.
The issue with Heart of Stone is that as a spy action movie, it doesn't break new ground. While that is not a bad thing, one would expect that it would bring more to the table to stand out from other films in the genre.
On the positive side, the use of tech gadgets and the frenetic action sequences make for a worthy distraction from a totally predictable plot and a clueless antagonist.
Heart of Stone would not have the appeal it does if not for Gadot and Okonedo; their pairing works well, with actress Alia Bhatt also adding something substantial with the mystery surrounding her character.
This film is good, maybe very good but it doesn't compare with Bond movies. Nonetheless, I would recommend it for action lovers.
