Ghosted is the latest action-oriented romantic comedy from Apple TV+, a studio that certainly knows how to put together a fairly impressive team of storytellers. The movie was directed by Rocketman filmmaker Dexter Fletcher, and written by deadpool writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. The film follows lonely florist Cole Turner (Chris Evans) in the aftermath of his recent breakup. After Cole falls in love with enigmatic client Sadie Rhodes (Ana de Armas), he then discovers she is an undercover spy working on an international case. Cole is then thrust into a world of action, espionage and danger that he is completely unequipped for.
Nothing about the set up before Ghosted is bad, but somehow every level of production feels cheap, generic and powerless. It’s one of the most cynical releases in recent memory, showing that streaming services simply don’t care much about popular projects when big names are associated with them. Fletcher even admitted that he had to cut back on his original ideas to fit the parameters of streaming. Critics were not kind to it Ghosted; IndieWire claimed that the film has “nothing more interesting than a casual relationship with its audience”. While many bad movies have certainly appeared in the streaming era, Ghosted represents a new low.
Generic storylines for broad appeal
It’s shocking that Ghosted came from the same creative team deadpool, because the storytelling is so boring it’s like the kind of movie the “Merc With A Mouth” would make fun of. There’s just nothing in it Ghosted that the viewer hasn’t seen before, and it doesn’t even try to reinvent the concept in an interesting way. Even movies that are clearly based on older classics can take them in a new direction; recently, The Lost City in fact the premise of recreated Romance of the stone with a modern perspective, and Speed is still entertaining despite the similarities to That hard. However, anyone who has seen a few Alfred Hitchcock classics and spy comedies can probably predict exactly how Ghosted will play from the moment it starts.
Fletcher’s comments about having to change his original vision to match the streaming parameters make sense given the film’s lack of specificity. Unsurprisingly, the film was produced by Apple, as it appears to have been shot on the same background used for an iPhone commercial. While the production was clearly high budget and shot in a lot of expensive locations, there’s nothing that makes any of them stand out. Inventive cinematography doesn’t require shooting in exotic locations; many of the most creatively shot films are low budget productions. Even Ghosted was put together by a big studio, it forgets this basic rule of storytelling.
The lack of great action sequences is also a shocking flaw within Ghosted. Both Evans and de Armas are great action stars; even outside of his role as Steve Rogers, Evans has proven to be a great action hero Snow piercer, the losers, and the Fantastic four movies. He is clearly capable of some intense stunt work. Likewise, de Armas really showed her abilities during her great performance in the James Bond movie No time to dieand there is much anticipation for her upcoming role in the John Wick spin off movie ballerina by director Len Wiseman. It’s a shame these two didn’t get the chance to utilize their talent.
Telling stories without risks
What is most alarming about Ghosted is the shocking lack of chemistry between de Armas and Evans; even though the two played brilliantly against each other in the murder mystery comedy Knives out, there is never any reason to invest in their relationship. Perhaps this is due to the superficial writing; there’s nothing the audience learns about Sadie’s history in the field that would make them care more about her, and Owen’s obsessive qualities are never really explored. The movie is so lazy at telling stories that they just don’t have anything to work with.
Unfortunately, Ghosted pairs these two against each other in a manner similar to last summer The gray man, another expensive streaming movie that failed to live up to the hype. Evans’ performance was simply a replication of John Travolta in Face/Offand de Armas got a fraction of the material she had No time to die. These two have taken mediocre movies to the next level with their charisma in the past. Even though Marvel fans often look back negatively on the Fantastic four movies, Evans’ role as Johnny Storm has received widespread support. Likewise mediocre movies like Hands of stone And War dogs were made much more fascinating thanks to the work of De Armas. unfortunately, Ghosted‘s lack of risk gives the story no stakes; not even a mean performance from Adrien Brody can make it any more exciting.
Pointless product placement and cameos
While Apple TV+ has produced many excellent movies, such as Best Picture winner CODA, Ghosted offers so much product placement for Apple products that it’s just overwhelming. While there are many movies featuring corporate tie-ins and new product appearances, they’re usually something movie buffs can ignore. However, the amount of iPhones and smart devices in Ghosted is so eye-catching it’s hard not to notice; it doesn’t help that Owen is constantly on his phone sending messages away, and even high-tech spies like Sadie use Apple products.
The film also has many cameo appearances from other famous actors, which are not cleverly inserted in the slightest. The filmmakers seem to think that simply casting a well-known actor for a short role is a joke in itself, as there’s nothing specific about these cameos that adds to the story. It’s such a lazy way of trying to get the audience’s attention that it completely takes the viewer out of the experience; then again, there’s nothing compelling about the movie, so maybe that’s not a bad thing.