At this point, any time you turn around, Netflix has another “Original film” that’s been dropped onto their streaming service. Sometimes it’s a movie that didn’t have a home else where, so they gobbled up the distribution rights. Other times it’s a feature they’ve been working on in-house. In attempt to convince people to stay home, rather than head to the theaters. The format works in some instances. Such as when a French thriller gets adapted into an English language film. That’s the case with the trailer we got today for Point Blank. A little picture starring Anthony Mackie and Frank Grillo, we initially reported on, last year. Now, it’s time to get our first look at how things turned out.
Here’s the official synopsis for Point Blank, too, to help better spell things out for you:
“When his pregnant wife is kidnapped and held as collateral, Paul, an ER nurse, must team with the badly injured career criminal and murder suspect under his charge in order to save the lives of his wife and unborn child. Pitted against rival gangs and a deadly ring of corrupt cops, the unlikely duo find a way to survive together in the fight of their lives.”
Now, there’s three things that ultimately set this above the other stuff that lands on Netflix. Four if you want to really dive in. The first two relates to the inclusion of Mackie and Grillo. In the last handful of years, they’ve managed to carve out a nice niche for themselves. Even without the help of being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Both have also had films land on Netflix (IO, Wheelman). So there’s already built-in hype. Not to mention being adapted from a foreign hit.
The big wild card here, is that of director. Up until now, Joe Lynch has mostly been a big “genre” guy. Wrong Turn 2 has a big cult following. Everly has been tracking that way too. Mayhem just got done eating up the festival circuit and finding a nice home on VOD. What his output doesn’t suggest is a by-the-numbers action-thriller. So, fingers are crossed that Lynch crosses a few lines in terms of spectacle or set pieces.
What did you make of this trailer? Are Anthony Mackie and Frank Grillo actors you will watch in anything? Does Joe Lynch make you curious to check this out? Or do you have a pavlovian response to the “what’s hot” section on Netflix’s main page? It’s ok, we’re guilty of that too. Let us know when you fall, down in the comments. Make sure to get ready to see what kind of insanity is in-store, when Point Blank drops exclusively on Netflix, on July 12. In the meantime, here’s the official poster, below.
