Alarum

    Growing up in the eighties, there were actors whose movies you would never miss—names like Schwarzenegger, Murphy, Ford, and Stallone. If they were in it, it wasn’t just a movie; it was an event. That was forty-some years ago, but those names are seared into my brain. Even today, when I see them in a movie, my instinct is to watch it—because that’s how I was trained. Unfortunately, the films these stars get today aren’t must-see events anymore. Instead, they’re often blink-and-you’ll-miss-them theater runs. Still, I’m loyal to my movie stars, and with Stallone having a good run on TV lately, I had high hopes for his new movie, Alarum.

The first thing Alarum has going for it is that it’s a spy movie—or at least a movie about spies. Joe (Scott Eastwood) is one of those spies, but on a job, he meets Laura (Willa Fitzgerald), an assassin, and they fall in love. So, what do spies do when they fall in love? In Joe’s case, he disappears and starts living a normal life. While enjoying that life with Laura at a resort, trouble finds them in the form of a crashed plane.

Joe quickly deduces it’s a downed DEA plane and discovers a flash drive hidden in the stomach of the deceased pilot. That’s where Joe’s peaceful retirement comes to an abrupt end. Soon, a group of armed men, led by a skilled and ruthless leader (Mike Colter), descend on the crash site, forcing Joe to fight for his life. Adding to the chaos, another assassin, Chester (Sylvester Stallone), is sent by Joe’s old employer to track him and Laura down. Together, Joe and Laura must survive against increasingly dangerous odds.

Written by Alexander Vesha, Alarum is unfortunately uninspired and plagued by a lack of focus. Instead of presenting us with a “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”-style couple fighting the world together, the film gives us a fractured narrative where the two leads mostly handle their problems separately. The story leans more on questions of loyalty other than on a bond forged between the characters. This approach demands viewers invest in Joe and Laura’s relationship, but Vesha provides very little in the way of character development, making it hard to care about what happens to them.

The movie does start off promisingly, but that initial potential burns out quickly, leaving behind a story that’s neither engaging nor fun to watch.

Alarum could have been an entertaining film if it had an invested writer and a more aggressive director. The concept—a rogue collection of agents taking control of the government’s dirty work—has potential. Instead, the film relies on the charisma of its leads. While the performances are adequate, they aren’t strong enough to elevate the weak script. The story’s disorganization permeates everything, and even the action sequences are as chaotically incoherent as the narrative itself.

Perhaps Stallone, who seems to be sleepwalking through his role, recognized the level of effort this movie deserved. Honestly, catching up on your sleep might be a better use of your time than watching Alarum.