Kandahar (Mini-Review)

Kandahar is an action film. Tom is an undercover CIA agent who is supposed to return home. But when an extremely tempting offer would keep him behind enemy lines for one more mission, he decides to postpone his return home. When his identity is exposed, Tom and his translator must rush to Kandahar before time runs out. Kandahar was released in 2023. It was directed by Ric Roman Waugh. It stars Gerard Butler, Navid Negahban, and Ali Fazal.

There are no mid and post-credits scenes. So once the credits start you can flee the building.

I don't mind if a movie is generic. I'm fine with watching something where I can just turn my brain off. The problem with this movie is that it isn't the fun kind of generic. Hypnotic (2023) was also generic but it at least made sure to be interesting. Kandahar was generic to the point of doing cliches without any heart to them. Why should I care about one guy sparing another's life when it doesn't feel like I know the two characters.

There is a night scene that is made to look extremely realistic. While this does make you feel even more involved with the scene, lighting doesn't come back into play once the fighting is over. Instead I had to squint to see the touching moment between Tom and Mo. While I can understand wanting to get into the action, I can't understand why quiet moments are hard to see.

This movie was amazing. It had a lot of action and I just wanted to run from the theater screaming. Somehow mindless action was uninteresting. And, mind you, these action sequences are different enough that things never really feel stale. There is also enough time in between action sequences to take a breather and think about the plot again.

This is the only movie I've seen where people walked out of the theater. It wasn't a packed theater which made all those leaving even more visible. If I hadn't seen this movie for my blog, I would've gladly walked out. I wanted to rush out of the theater once the credits started. Which deity did I piss off for this to happen to me?

Tom has been doing undercover work for a long time. He talks to his wife and his choice of work is driving them apart. He has a daughter which gives him a good reason to fight to reach Kandahar. Very generic setup but at least I can understand his motivation. Which can't be said for all the characters.

Mo, Tom's translator, originally came to the Middle East to find a missing woman. This is generic but allows me to see from his point of view. Know what the problem is? His goal of finding this person never goes anywhere. The movie doesn't end with him leaving on a plane that will take him back to the Middle East. So there's a question of why Mo's subplot was there if it meant nothing.

I would recommend Kandahar to those looking for an action movie.