Collide: A High-Speed Chase That Doesn’t Require Much Brainpower
This deliberately simple, yet occasionally brilliantly shot, chase film doesn’t demand much intelligence or empathy from the viewer. Buckle up and floor it!
Casey, an American on the run from the police, temporarily drops anchor in Cologne, Germany, where he finds less-than-legal work with a local drug dealer. Meeting the charming Juliette changes Casey; he quits his criminal activities, but the girl requires serious medical intervention, and the guy decides on one last cunning maneuver. Prompted by his former boss, Casey embarks on a dangerous mission – he needs to intercept a large shipment of drugs arriving in Germany in a massive truck. However, the carefully planned operation fails, and the young man becomes the target of both the police and the drug mafia.
Originally, Zac Efron and Amber Heard were cast in the lead roles, but due to production delays, contracts with these actors had to be terminated and Nicholas Hoult and Felicity Jones were signed.
We often criticize Hollywood and domestic cinema for a lack of originality, but we rarely notice that even in a well-trodden field, you can create your own mini-masterpieces or even significant, groundbreaking works. Who would have thought that the new “Mad Max,” which doesn’t offer anything new in terms of plot, would suddenly be such a bomb? Who expected the success of “Attraction,” which rehashes the simple “Romeo and Juliet” formula for the hundred-thousandth time? To create a solid film, even in a rut where everything has long been trampled, all you need is a precise understanding of what you’re doing, confidence in your abilities, and a little luck. Who said that after the “Fast & Furious” franchise, it’s pointless to get behind the wheel of a car in other films? If there’s a good story, why not take it for a spin?!
The long-suffering “Collide,” the production of which coincided with a management crisis at Relativity Media, has only now reached Russian screens, and while Eren Creevy’s film can’t compete with the “Fast & Furious” box office, it can serve as a decent appetizer. However, it must be admitted that “Collide” is technically inferior to its “big brother,” and dramatically it doesn’t stand up to any criticism. But it’s not aimed at Oscars or awards for best special effects. It’s a rather modest picture, an unpretentious entertainment for young people, not burdened with complex morality or a heavy aftertaste.
A Formulaic Plot Saved by Decent Action
The plot of the film is so simple that it looks more like a diagram, in which squares with text and arrows between them replace thoughtful and emotionally wrought twists. Need chases? Let the hero run away from everyone. Need him to have a reason to run? Let his girlfriend be in danger. Need the couple to feel real anxiety? Let the girl be seriously ill. And let them love each other. Deeply. And meet by chance. In Cologne. Why not?
In this format, you can invent any nonsense, but the viewer doesn’t really care, because the main course of “Collide” should be the widely advertised in the trailers races and high-speed shootouts. They are there and, surprisingly, done very, very well – at least a couple of scenes are capable of surprising even a seasoned moviegoer. For example, the editorially well-resolved episode with Casey’s escape from Mr. Hagen Kahl’s warehouses – several rather long shots in one take, made from an unusual angle and in motion – is worth praising. And the races on that very titular “Autobahn” turned out worthy – not “The Matrix Reloaded,” of course, and not Michael Bay’s “Bad Boys” with “The Island,” but quite energetic and realistic.
Despite many years of experience, Ben Kingsley and Anthony Hopkins starred in the same film for the first time in “Collide.”
Star Power Can’t Save It
The problem is that the picture doesn’t offer anything else, and this is despite the presence of such masters as Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley in the cast. By and large, nothing special is required of the masters, and therefore they do not strain themselves – Hopkins only plays with his soft, insinuating voice, and Kingsley grimaces as if he was forced to try on the mask of Trevor Slattery again. But even more depressing is the apathy in the eyes of Felicity Jones and Nicholas Hoult. We recently saw Jones terminally ill in “A Monster Calls,” we want more life from her, but she does it badly – the actress often simply falls out of the frame with an absent look, and this is not only a problem of “Collide.” As for Hoult – the guy is clearly in search, and the new film is a completely understandable test for him, an application for a “new action hero.” The application is weak, after all, the suffering and whining Hoult looks more organic, and the viewer is more familiar with him. Straining his veins and expressing rage is slightly worse for Nicholas.
Thus, famous actors, a simple but understandable plot, and several daring stunts do not allow the picture to remain completely faceless, but they do not make it a masterpiece either. “Collide” is an evening show for an action TV channel, moderately energetic, slightly romantic, and sometimes masterfully shot. A little, but no one promised mountains of gold.