The 355

After his first film Dark Phoenix, which he wrote and directed, we were a little afraid to find the producer and writer Simon Kinberg as director. Appreciated by comic book fans, he participated as a producer and/or writer in the X-men film saga (X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men: First Class (2011), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Dark Phoenix (2019), New Mutants (2020)), but also in the two Deadpool films and other blockbusters. His second film 355 turns out to be a real success as the script he co-wrote with Theresa Rebeck turns out to be a convincing mix of Charlie's Angels and Mission impossible. 

Carried by an excellent female cast, see probably The female cast of 2022 with Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Bingbing Fan, 355 stands out as a spy film with rather well-developed twists and turns and which also allows us to find the actor Sebastian Stan in a role just as muscular as his character of the Winter Soldier in the Marvel cinematographic universe. Simon Kinberg also reunites with the actress Jessica Chastain, whom he directed in Dark Phoenix.

355 shows once again that new technologies can turn against its own creators and become a very dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. So when a technological weapon becomes the source of covetousness between different international criminal organizations, the only hope to avoid the end of humanity lies in the hands of a CIA agent Mason Mace Brown (Jessica Chastain) but also of her team including her rival German agent Marie (Diane Kruger, superb screen presence and impressive in the action scenes) but also a former MI6 ally and advanced computer scientist Khadijah (Lupita Nyong'o) and an experienced Colombian witness and psychologist Graciela (Penélope Cruz). 

These five women will not only have to put their expertise into action but also work together against a powerful criminal. Set in different countries such as France (Paris), Morocco and Shanghai, 355 has the epic feel of the great spy films in the vein of the world's best-known British agent and especially of Mission Impossible's Agent Ethan Hunt. By taking the opposite side of these films putting the female gender in the background, 355 is not only very effective in its many action scenes (the chase in the streets of Paris but also in the tunnels of the metro is perfectly conducted).

For his second film, Simon Kinberg seems to have made real progress in terms of the rhythm he instills in this film but also by a mastered editing that makes the film hold us in suspense without any false our. The chemistry and the complementarity between the five main female characters make 355 create a solid enough base to launch a new cinematographic saga. In any case, the open ending goes in this direction and we can only hope that this film will find its audience because we have here at the end an attractive and seductive female action film. While recent action movies seem to revolve around excellent actors, notably Tom Cruise, 355 reminds us of how excellent seasoned female actors can be in action scenes and how important they are.

To start the year, 355 is an excellent choice and we only regret the absence of a post-credits scene showing that this team, as seductive as it is dangerous, is the last bulwark against the numerous criminal organizations in the world and against the corruption that is rampant at different levels of spy agencies.

The 355
Directed by Simon Kinberg
Screenplay by Theresa Rebeck, Simon Kinberg
Story by Theresa Rebeck, Bek Smith
Produced by Jessica Chastain, Kelly Carmichael, Simon Kinberg
Starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Bingbing Fan, Sebastian Stan, Édgar Ramírez
Cinematography : Tim Maurice-Jones
Edited by John Gilbert, Lee Smith
Music by Tom Holkenborg
Production companies : Perfect World Pictures, Freckle Films, Genre Films, FilmNation Entertainment, Huayi Brothers
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date : January 7, 2022 (United States), January 5 , 2022 (France)
Running time : 124 minutes

Seen on January 4, 2022 at Gaumont Disney Village, Room 10 seat A17

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