Survivor (film)

Survivor

Theatrical release poster
Directed by James McTeigue
Produced by
Written by Philip Shelby
Starring
Music by Ilan Eshkeri
Cinematography Danny Ruhlmann
Edited by Kate Baird
Production
company
Distributed by Alchemy
Release dates
  • May 29, 2015 (2015-05-29) (United States)
  • June 5, 2015 (2015-06-05) (United Kingdom)
Running time
 96 minutes
Country United States
United Kingdom
Language English
Budget $20 million
Box office $3,638,976[1]

Survivor is a 2015 British-American spy thriller film directed by James McTeigue[2] and written by Philip Shelby. The film stars Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan and Dylan McDermott.[3]

The film was released in the United States on May 29, 2015 in a limited release and through video on demand. It was released in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2015.[4]

Plot

Johnny Talbot (Paddy Wallace), an American soldier serving in Afghanistan, is captured by terrorists and forced to witness the execution of his comrade, Ray (Parker Sawyers).

Kate Abbott (Milla Jovovich) is a Diplomatic Security Service agent working for the American Embassy in London, who began working in the government after most of her friends were killed in 9/11. While she is implementing new, more stringent visa applications for potential terrorist suspects, most of her team are killed while attending a restaurant for the birthday of their superior, Bill Talbot (Robert Forster), Johnny's father, with Kate only surviving because she left the restaurant to get a last-minute present for Bill.

An investigation into the attack reveals that the bomb has traces of chromium, leading one of Kate's fellow employees, Sam Parker (Dylan McDermott), to deduce that the perpetrator was the 'Watchmaker' (Pierce Brosnan), one of the world's most wanted killers, known for his precision work, who detonated a bomb with similar traces in Paris two years earlier. Nobody knows the Watchmaker's appearance, as he has had lots of plastic surgery over the years. Kate's subsequent attempts to find out the cause of the explosion reveal that Bill was being blackmailed to let certain visa applicants through after Johnny's capture, and the man behind the attack was indeed the Watchmaker. Her efforts uncover a plan to detonate another bomb at Times Square in New York City during the New Year's Eve celebrations.

As she carries out her own investigation, she is attacked by Bill, unintentionally killing him in self-defense. She is later classified, through witnesses and footage, as a suspect for the attacks by the others at the embassy and even the British TV Network (BTN), forcing her to sneak back into the embassy to create false passports for herself to follow the Watchmaker to New York, with support from Sam, her superior at the embassy, and her friend Sally (Frances de la Tour), the only two people who believe in her innocence.

Meanwhile, the Watchmaker tests a sphere bomb detonated with an explosive long-range gun round in Tower Hamlets, destroying a tower block. Later, he reveals that he is aware that his client's purpose for the Times Square attack is for making millions when the stock market reopens. He requests half the money, threatening to otherwise cancel the attack, before leaving for New York. The New Year's Eve ball is filled with explosive gas, like the tested sphere bomb, by the Watchmaker's friend, Dr Emil Balan (Roger Rees), who is involved in the attack to avenge his late wife.

In a final confrontation in Times Square, the Watchmaker kills Balan when he finishes his part of the job, and Kate, after a struggle, manages to throw the Watchmaker to his death on the stroke of midnight as he tries to trigger the bomb. Consequently, her hunch is vindicated and she clears her name. She receives a call from Sam, successfully recovered from recent injuries, congratulating her.

Cast

Production

The principal photography of the film Survivor began on January 20, 2014 in London.[2][3][5] Shooting took place in London for five weeks before production moved to Sofia, Bulgaria for three weeks.[6] Emma Thompson was cast and appeared in promotional material for the film, but she pulled out at the last minute.[7]

Theatrical release and reception

Alchemy acquired the United States distribution rights to the film on March 20, 2015.[8] The film was given a limited release and a video on demand release in the United States on May 29, 2015.[4] Lionsgate released the film in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2015.[4]

Although a rare positive review emerged—e.g., from the Daily Mail, and The National[9][10]—Survivor received almost uniformly negative reviews from major reviewers, for instance, with only 34% of viewers and 8% of all critics giving positive reviews at Rotten Tomatoes as of September 2015.[9] IGN awarded Survivor 5 out of 10, saying "The film is particularly disappointing as McTeigue also directed V for Vendetta, a much sharper, much more intriguing, much more thought-provoking look at our post-9/11 world."[11] As of September 2015, the film had a score 26 out of 100 from 11 critics on Metacritic, with the highest coming in from Roger Moore at Movie Nation and Peter Sobczynski of Roger Ebert (both at 50 points on a scale of 100).[12][13][14]

Home media release

Survivor was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on June 23, 2015, and was released in Canada and other countries on July 7, 2015.[15][16]

References

  1. ↑ "Survivor (2015)". BoxOfficeMojo. Retrieved Sep 3, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Zargani, Luisa (February 24, 2014). "Milla Jovovich Touches Down in Milan". wwd.com. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Rosser, Michael (January 20, 2014). "James McTeigue's Survivor begins shoot". screendaily.com. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 20, 2014). "'Survivor' Trailer: Milla Jovovich Is Targeted By Pierce Brosnan's Assassin". deadline.com. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  5. ↑ Franklin, Garth (January 21, 2014). "McTeigue's 'Survivor' Begins Filming in UK". darkhorizons.com. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  6. ↑ Daniels, Nia (January 21, 2014). "Milla Jovovich in London to shoot Survivor". kftv.com. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Survivor review – you'll wish you hadn't made it to the end". The Guardian. June 7, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  8. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (March 20, 2015). "James McTeigue Thriller 'Survivor' Lands at Alchemy". deadline.com. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  9. 1 2 Rotten Tomatoes staff (2015). "Survivor (2015)", rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  10. ↑ Newbould, Chris (2015). "Film review: Brosnan and Jovovich team up for spy action-thriller Survivor", The National, June 3, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015. Quote: "Survivor is 96 minutes of rip-roaring action, with heavyweight actors managing to paper over some of the plot holes with their performances. Watch without prejudice, and you’ll enjoy it.
  11. ↑ Lasser, Josh (2015). "Movie review: Survivor Review", IGN, May 28, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015. Quote: "Jovovich is generally solid in the role… More hamstrung than Jovovich is Pierce Brosnan… Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, James D'Arcy, and Roger Rees are all similarly constrained."
  12. ↑ Metacritic staff (2015). "Survivor, Alchemy, Release Date: May 29, 2015", Metacritic, May 29, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  13. ↑ Sobczynski, Peter (2015). "Survivor", RogerEbert.com, May 29, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015. Quote: "As you can probably surmise from just that brief plot recap, originality is not exactly one of the strong points of survivor—screenwriter Phillip Shelby has essentially given viewers a mash-up of any number of movies… The best thing about "Survivor" are the performances from Jovovich and Brosnan in the lead roles… Neither particularly good nor particularly bad, "Survivor" is the kind of film that one can safely put on the television while other stuff is going on without worry that important plot points will be missed along the way."
  14. ↑ Roger Moore (2015). "Movie Review: “Survivor” is a B-movie thriller that kind of works", Movie Nation, May 27, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Survivor". VideoETA.com. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Survivor". Tribute.ca. Retrieved June 28, 2015.

External links

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