An Overlooked Orlando Bloom Movie Just Hit Netflix
Orlando Bloom has an underseen movie that just got added to Netflix.
This article is more than 2 years old
When it comes to cranking out feature films, one-time A-lister Orlando Bloom has certainly slowed down. Since his final time appearing in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as Will Turner in the 2015 hit Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Bloom has appeared in four features, including Pirates. One of those movies is now available on Netflix.
S.M.A.R.T. Chase goes by a couple of different names. When it was first conceived, the Orlando Bloom movie was called S.M.A.R.T. Chase: Fire & Earth. In China, where it was filmed and first released, the title was changed to The Shanghai Job. When it finally got its minimal North American release, it reverted to S.M.A.R.T. Chase, dropping Fire & Earth.
In S.M.A.R.T. Chase, Orlando Bloom plays Danny Stratton, a washed-up private security agent. At one time, Stratton was at the top of his game, supervising the transport of a priceless Van Gogh painting. When that went south and the painting was stolen under his watch, his reputation as being one of the best went along with it.
However, Orlando Bloom’s Stratton has been given one last shot at redemption. He has been asked to escort and transport a rare Chinese vase out of Shanghai and over to London, a long trek indeed. So, Stratton, along with members from his Security Management Action Recovery Team, begin their venture.
Things go smoothly for Stratton and his team, the physically intimidating Mach Ren, brainy Ding Dong, and the no-nonsense J. Jae An, at the beginning but, as most things do in a redemption tale, good fortunes turn bad in a hurry.
Stratton’s old enemy, Long-Fei, an art thief who is good at what he does, appears and history repeats itself. Stratton and his crew are unable to hold onto the rare Chinese vase when Long-Fei appears with his murderous cohorts. With the Chinese vase now in Long-Fei’s possession, Stratton must now retrieve the artifact while protecting those he loves.
Sometimes you have to ask the question to these one-time A-listers: WTF? How do they find these movies and why? Bruce Willis fits into this mold. As for Bloom, an answer can’t be found. A favor, perhaps? He can’t be desperate for money nor could he be begging for roles. Whatever the reasoning behind taking on this role, Orlando Bloom did for better or for worse.
When considering Orlando Bloom and from where he came to where he is now it’s night and day. Bloom hit it big right out of the gate as he took on the role of Legolas in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Ring trilogy. After the first Rings movie released, Bloom found himself in the hit war drama Black Hawk Down. This was another financial success for the young star and a nice building block for his career.
Orlando Bloom immediately went back to Legolas in the second film of Peter Jackson’s trilogy then came the franchise that shot Bloom into the A-list category. Pirates of the Caribbean and his role as Will Turner. The franchise became another financially relevant series for Bloom, one that would see him reprise the role three more times.
In the middle of his two big franchises, Orlando Bloom found himself branching out with roles in Ned Kelly, The Calcium Kid, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, Elizabethtown, The Good Doctor, and The Three Musketeers. He remained a hot commodity in the eyes of Hollywood.
Peter Jackson went back to Orlando Bloom for his Hobbit trilogy. Granted, Bloom didn’t reprise his role for the first Hobbit film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but he was a main part in the following two, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. In total, looking at the box office numbers of the Pirates, Rings, and Hobbit franchises, Orlando Bloom has helped bring in almost $7.5 billion at the box office.
This again begs the question: why S.M.A.R.T Chase? As the Orlando Bloom movie never received a major release, it is hard to gauge just how good the movie is or isn’t. But without getting a major release, that may be all one needs to know about the film.
Most recently, Orlando Bloom was seen on the Amazon Original Carnival Row. His last feature film was the war movie The Outpost. Next up for the former A-lister is the feature Needle in a Timestack, a movie that deals with love and romance and time travel.
If you’re a fan of Orlando Bloom, head over to Netflix and give S.M.A.R.T Chase a viewing. Let us know what you think.
