Classified follows Evan Shaw (Aaron Eckhart), who has been living a life of seclusion for the past couple of decades. He minds his own business and just focuses on work. No distractions, just making sure he gets the job done. In his line of work, it doesn’t really make sense to make connections. It’s tough to do that when you’re always traveling for work. Not to mention your life being full of secrets as you’re assassinating targets for the CIA.
The process has remained the same – Shaw goes to the pick-up location and retrieves a newspaper. Deciphering the code in the classifieds section provides the target from his boss Kevin Angler (Tim Roth). Couldn’t be easier. That is until Kacey (Abigail Breslin) enters the picture. Kacey is an analyst for MI6, and she seems to know an awful lot about Shaw and is ready to spill the tea.
Kacey believes that Angler is dead, and the division Shaw has been working for is long gone. The magic question being… if Kacey is right, who has been giving Shaw his orders? Shaw is of course skeptical, but that skepticism wanes a bit when Kacey reveals she is his daughter. Now properly reacquainted, the two set out to get some answers. Time to find out who has been tricking Shaw into become their personal killing machine.
Roel Reiné directed the film with Bob DeRosa writing it. Reiné has decades of experience directing action films. DeRosa has a couple feature length action flicks under his belt as well. However, it has been almost a decade and a half since his last one. Classified is also DeRosa’s first feature length film where he is the sole writer. Unfortunately, the script leaves a lot to be desired. The dialogue, and several one liners, can be hard to stomach at times. On top of that, there is nothing to truly draw you in to the characters or their plight.
Classified is chock-full of generic spy movie elements. We have the music, some flashbacks, a little slow motion mixed in, a couple gadgets, drop points, and hidden tapes. The problem is that none of them are done well enough to make the film stand apart. The main enemies are cheesy and include the stereotypical super soldier head of the team chasing Shaw. Shaw and Kacey have an unusual dynamic that is more uncomfortable than anything else. Uninteresting antagonists + awkward protagonists is not typically a winning combo.
The film boils down to Eckhart being chased from one place to another trying to solve this mystery. All while accompanied by Breslin whose character is strange and off-putting. The worst thing of all may be the eye rolling discrepancy in skill. Shaw and Kacey may as well have stormtroopers chasing them with how terrible the ‘elite’ mercenaries aim is. Whereas Shaw can hit several consecutive headshots…from over half a mile away…across a river…at night…and so quickly no one even has time to react. When the dust settles, Classified is a forgettable action flick that is not worth a watch.
Classified is available now on VOD and Digital!
