Gal Gadot’s Netflix Bond Movie Is A Hilarious Bust
Gal Gadot’s new Netflix movie, Heart of Stone saw its premiere today, and is already taking quite a beating on Rotten Tomatoes. In just a short amount of time, the spy action thriller racked up 32 reviews, and currently boasts a 28 percent critical rating, with no audience rating at all at the time of this writing. Though some of the reviews are scathing, to say the least, there is also a mixed bag of positive reviews, so it may be too soon to tell how well Heart of Stone will perform commercially.
Like many film properties these days, this Gal Gadot starring Netflix original was created with the intention of being franchised out, but we’ll have to wait and see if it garners enough positive attention before getting the green light for a sequel.
“Heart of Stone is a cliche-filled actioner that is sadly missing its ticker. Gadot is the standout but even she can’t pump much life into the anemic script.”
Tara Bennett on Rotten Tomoatoes
One reviewer expressed disappointment over the fact that Heart of Stone seems like “another franchise for the algorithm to chew up,” and went on to say that it’s just more filler to idly watch. Conversely, one of the more positive reviews stated that the film is like the new Mission: Impossible movie, but “not rubbish.
But it’s worth noting that most action movies tend to have a polarizing effect on critical audiences. Just like many other action movies and franchises, there is more often than not an inverse relationship between critical scores and audience scores.
“It’s almost as if the bigwigs at Mission-makers Skydance Media stared aghast at Dead Reckoning’s miserable box-office numbers, reached into their goodie bag and said: ‘Here it is again! But this time it’s not rubbish!'”
Kevin Maher on Rotten Tomatoes
When you consider the fact that Gal Gadot’s latest effort just made its Netflix debut less than 24 hours ago, there simply hasn’t been enough time for the average audience and core demographic for Heart of Stone to weigh in with their opinions. You can see this phenomenon in action with the latest Fast and Furious installment, Fast X, which has an 84 percent audience score against a 57 percent critical score.
The prevailing sentiment about this new Gal Gadot movie is that it celebrates the clichés that one would typically expect in a summer blockbuster action movie released by Netflix. And at the end of the day, the critics aren’t wrong. Most action movies utilize a very specific formula, and Heart of Stone is no different in the sense that Gadot’s Rachel Stone is an intelligence operative racing against the clock to save the world by protecting a mysterious, and dangerous, asset known as “The Heart.”
“Heart of Stone is an ideological mess. AI is great until it’s not, and then it’s fine because Gal Gadot can just kick someone in the face. It’s conflicted without embracing that conflict, resulting in a film that’s really about nothing at all.”
Clarisse Loughrey on Rotten Tomatoes
But it’s worth noting that it’s not the storyboard beats that make or break a movie. For as many negative reviews that Heart of Stone has received at this point in time, it’s apparent that Gal Gadot’s performance is carrying the show, and the critics that enjoyed the Netflix movie can see the potential for a successful franchise.
In other words, despite Heart of Stone’s “by the numbers” nature, it’s still considered to be highly entertaining despite the fact that it succumbs to your usual action spy movie trappings.
Though the new Gal Gadot movie on Netflix may not be the next Mission: Impossible or James Bond movie like Skydance Studios intended, we ultimately need to wait for more audience reviews to roll in and paint a broader picture in order to consider this movie a flop or a success. For all we know, Heart of Stone could very well be the next sleeper hit that we’re waiting for.
