The 2023 Netflix movie schedule is filled with a wide array of action titles that have been met with varied responses from critics and general audiences alike. While Extraction 2 was well received by pundits, The Out-Laws received less-than-stellar reviews. The latest entry in the genre to hit the streamer is Heart of Stone, which is headed by Gal Gadot. The film debuted this past week and, during this time, reviewers have been sharing their reactions to Gadot’s latest cinematic endeavor. And to be frank, many of them are sharing nearly identical sentiments about the movie.
Since it was announced, Heart of Stone has been touted as an espionage-infused action/thriller that spans the globe. The first trailer teased a pulse-pounding spy adventure that put Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan at the center of the proceedings. However, a sizable number of critics don’t seem to believe the film fulfills that promise. CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg was not impressed by the big-budget production, which he deemed a laughable Mission: Impossible knockoff. He believed the movie to be rigid and calculated, which he found ironic due to the subject matter:
It demonstrates a shocking lack of any kind of feel for the zeitgeist regarding technology, though that’s just one issue with the new Netflix release. Perhaps it’s an influence from the film’s pro-artificial intelligence stance, but the whole feature feels like it’s been pumped out of a computer – the two hour runtime full of stilted, exposition-ridden dialogue, a trope-packed story with confounding worldbuilding and blue screen/VFX-heavy action.
Marya E. Gates of RogerEbert.com also criticized for the film what she believed to be a severe lack of originality. She referred to the movie as “an abject failure” and critiqued Tom Harper’s direction. Like Eric Eisenberg, she also opined that the project attempts to take elements from established franchises in an attempt to make something original:
Positioned as the start of a spy franchise for star Gal Gadot a la ‘Mission: Impossible’ or the James Bond films, Tom Harper's ‘Heart of Stone’ is the film equivalent of trying to make something go ‘viral.’ It’s an overly calibrated hodge-podge of better movies with absolutely no original thought of its own, populated by stock characters, and brought to life with uninspired filmmaking.
In the newly released movie, the Wonder Woman actress plays the role of Rachel Stone, an intelligence agent working for an organization known as “The Charter.” While good at her job, Stone is truly put to the test when she must prevent a malevolent force from getting its hands on her and her allies’ intricate A.I. system. Though a number of pundits aren’t exactly impressed with the film, THR’s David Rooney was – for the most part – pleased. He had particular praise for the leading lady:
As a woman cut from Ethan Hunt cloth, Gadot is in fine form, kicking ass with elegant athleticism but at the same time remaining within the boundaries of regular human vulnerability. Rachel’s bond with her MI6 comrades provides some emotional texture, as does her eventual big-sister vibe with Keya, though it’s refreshing that this is a female-driven action flick in which the protagonist is not required to have a love interest.
Kimber Myers of Crooked Marquee, however, shared thoughts that are more in line with what a number of other critics shared. She wasn’t enthusiastic about the film and also compared it less favorably to similar fare that’s been released on Netflix:
Heart of Stone joins the streamer’s seemingly endless stable of star-driven action films, but it does little to differentiate itself from the pack other than a few POV shots that simply serve as distractions. There’s no big action sequence, or even a single moment that merits any sort of feeling other than déjà vu. Harper’s movie (if its featureless approach can even be attributed to a director) is less quippy than Red Notice and less grim than the Extraction movies, leaving it in a muddled middle ground.
IGN’s Tara Bennett was equally underwhelmed, criticizing the screenplay, characters and direction. Like some of her peers, she also cited a lack of originality as one of the biggest sticking points:
Heart of Stone is slick-looking but composed entirely of empty calorie set pieces that crib heavily from other contemporary action films like The Gray Man, Extraction, or Red Notice. It ticks so many familiar boxes that by the end, you can anticipate every mustache-twirling reveal, ‘surprise’ death, or eye-rolling countdown clock. It’s hard to get excited for future Stone adventures when there’s no reason to care about the characters left standing at the end of this one.
So all in all, it would appear that journalists aren’t too high on Gal Gadot’s latest flick and, at the time of this writing, the film has a 38% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Though the audience score is 65%, which can somewhat be viewed as a positive. It’s very apparent Netflix wants this flick to launch a franchise and, unless viewers watch it in droves, one has to wonder what the future holds for this new IP.
At present though, if you’re looking to watch Heart of Stone, grab a Netflix subscription and do just that. You can also read up on other big films using CinemaBlend’s schedule of 2023 new movie releases.
