Overview
Alex (Olga Kurylenko), a trained ex-military agent-turned-thief, gets pulled by her former partner into a high-tech bank heist (her ‘one last job’). During the heist, she accidentally steals a valuable flash drive containing incriminating evidence. Alex is then relentlessly pursued by a team of agents led by Mr. Washington (James Purefoy), who has been sent by an anonymous Senator (Morgan Freeman) to retrieve the flash drive. While involved in a violent and frenetic cat-and-mouse chase across the city, Alex tries to uncover the conspiracy behind her pursuers.
Cast
- Olga Kurylenko as Alexis "Alex" Faraday
- James Purefoy as Mr. "Washington"
- Lee-Anne Summers as Penny Fuller
- Hlomla Dandala as Mr. Madison
- Morgan Freeman as "Senator"
- Karl Thaning as Doug MacArthur
- Shelley Nicole as Ms. "Clinton"
Production
The film was directed by Stephen Campanelli in his directorial debut, and was written by Adam Marcus and Debra Sullivan.[ It was co-produced by Anton Ernst.[3] The film was written as the entry point in a film series.]
The film stars Olga Kurylenko as the protagonist "Alexis", James Purefoy as the antagonist "Mr. Washington", and Morgan Freeman as the U.S. senator.[ Vincent Cassel was originally to star opposite Kurylenko,[4] but was replaced by Purefoy. Director Campanelli wanted to cast Purefoy based on his performance in the television series "The Following". Freeman offered his services to Campanelli for his directorial debut based on their prior working relationship, when he was a cameraman for Clint Eastwood.]
The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Fantasia International Film Festival, on 22 July 2015, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the hometown of the director.[[5] The film was released in the United States on October 16, 2015.]
Reception
Momentum received generally negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 29% rating, an average score of 3.6/10, sampled from 14 reviews.[6] Metacritic gives the film a score of 18 out of 100 from 5 critics, signifying "overwhelming dislike".[7]During the film's opening weekend in the United Kingdom, the film only managed to gross £46 from the 10 theatres it was displayed in.[8] In Malaysia, it grossed $60,126 over two weeks and in Thailand it grossed $43,940 on its opening weekend.[9]
References
1. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/momentum-film|title=MOMENTUM (15)|work=British Board of Film Classification|date=July 23, 2015|accessdate=July 23, 2015}}
2. ^https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Momentum-(2015)#tab=international
3. ^{{cite news |url= http://www.iol.co.za/tonight/news/local/stewart-s-shoes-to-tread-sa-1.1722371 |title= Stewart’s shoes to tread SA |author= Jan Cronje |date= 19 July 2014 |publisher= Independent Online (South Africa) |work= ToNight }}
4. ^{{cite news |url= https://variety.com/2013/film/global/toronto-momentum-adds-quartet-of-thesps-exclusive-1200600664/ |title= Toronto: ‘Momentum’ Adds Quartet of Thesps (EXCLUSIVE) |author= John Hopewell |date= 6 September 2013 |publisher= Variety }}
5. ^{{cite journal |url= http://www.marianopolis.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Marianopolis-Matters-fall-2014.pdf |work= Marianopolis Matters |date= Fall 2014 |pages= 8–11 |title= Gathering Momentum |publisher= Marianopolis College }}
6. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/momentum_2015/ |title=Momentum |work=Rotten Tomatoes |accessdate=October 18, 2015}}
7. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/momentum |title=Momentum |work=Metacritic |accessdate=October 18, 2015}}
8. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/24/morgan-freeman-thriller-momentum-flops-uk-cinema|title=Morgan Freeman thriller loses Momentum taking £4.60 average at cinemas|work=The Guardian|accessdate=November 24, 2015}}
9. ^http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Momentum-%282015%29#more