The 355 has been released with very little publicity and barely a review despite a star-studded cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Luputa N’yongo and Diane Kruger. They play a disparate group of intelligence operatives that team up to stop a hard drive that could cripple the world’s computer systems falling into the wrong hands.
The plot, then, is pretty derivative, and the movie is all over the place to start with as the multitude of characters are introduced. There are a couple of action set pieces during that time that, although well enough staged, struggled to hold my interest as I did not feel invested in anyone on screen.
After that though, this turns into a crowd pleasing action flick. Despite not stretching their considerable acting talents, all four leads throw themselves into their roles. Director Simon Kinberg keeps everything moving at a swift pace as the action moves round the globe, and, the admittedly predictable twists keep coming.
Although everything is set up for a sequel at the end, the poor box office returns suggest that will not happen.
Rating: 7 out of 10