A random YouTube notification was how I found this movie. After checking out the trailer, it really peaked my interest. Surprisingly, there wasn't a lot of hype surrounding the movie even though the director, Simon Kinberg, is known for several successful projects like X-Men and Deadpool. Maybe after the disaster of The New Mutants, people lost hope in his projects. However, I was willing to give this movie a try. Initially, I tried to keep my expectations low to avoid huge disappointments but somehow the movie turned out to be more than I expected.
About The Movie
Genre: Action Release Date: January 2022 Screen Time: 2hrs 2 minutes
A story of Love, Betrayal, Power Lust and corruption, The 355 is a movie that shows how dangerous and powerful the Greed of men can be. Normally, when we hear "The Greed of Men", we associate it to both genders. The makers of this film, however, took it to a different level by making Women the protagonists and good guys (girls) in essence.
The movie starts out in the Colombia capital Bogota where the power of a new device is demonstrated to a crime group. The device, which is in the form of a drive, is explained to be able to access anything on the net including blockchain. After a shootout takes place and the drive is seized by a DNI agent, word gets out about this new tech and several agencies, including the CIA, German BND, Colombian DNI and Chinese MSS, crime groups and terrorists begin to work to get the drive.
After learning about the power of the device, partners betray partners, agencies turn against their own and greed becomes the order of the day. With the entire world at stake, compromises are made, old ties are severed and new alliances are formed. Five highly skilled women come together to stop the drive from getting into the wrong hands in order to save all of mankind.
Movie analysis and opinion
The 355 is a movie that I really enjoyed seeing. The color of the movie is similar to many other spy movies like Extraction and The Old Guard which amplifies the action. The sound is also great. We can hear a lot of ominous music in the background before and during fight scenes. These two elements of sound and color make the movie a great action movie to see.
The actors were properly chosen in my opinion. Jessica Chastain was able to spark up the Mace character with a lot of life and emotion in a way that speaks to the audience. I love to see Lupita Nyong in a movie since the movie Us because she is very versatile and can shapeshift into any character when needed. Altogether, all the main ladies were able to complement themselves and were able to play their individual characters optimally. The antagonists also did pretty great to portray men driven by greed who are ruthless in their quest for power.
The movie references Agent 355 who was an unknown female American spy in the 1700s. Although, her impact was felt during the American Revolution, her true identity remains a mystery. The women in the movie are somewhat similar because although they saved the entire world, nobody knows it. In the end, they even become fugitives for their good deeds because to the corrupt powers, how dare these ladies oppose them. A lot of people today bow to the wishes of the corrupt people in power. Many people stay silent to oppression understandably due to the powers of their oppressors. As humans, we are flawed and although we would like to think otherwise, most times it is difficult to stand for what is right especially when faced by opposing superpowers. Some who decide to do good will only do so when they are acknowledged by the masses. It sounds very bad but it is basic human nature.
The movie speaks volumes in this aspect for me in the sense that a good deed is its own reward and no one needs to know about it before it becomes a good deed. A selfless act is not supposed to please the self. We should strive to defeat the human need for attention and praise for good deeds and also refuse the will of the evil minded.
One downside about this movie is that it is somewhat predictable. The setting was cliche even from the beginning. There was even the cliche rich people's party scene. I could tell what would happen in the plot at a lot of instances. This is really a problem with most spy movies.
Characters and their actors
Jessica Chastain As Mace
Diane Kruger As Marie
Lupita Nyong As Khadijah
Penélope Cruz As Graciela
Bingbing Fan As Lin Mi Sheng
Sebastian Stan As Nick
Verdict and Conclusion
Starting the 355 movie, I wanted to see how the drive would be able to disrupt blockchain networks. Although we don't get to see that, the movie is a good watch. I recommend this movie and for anyone that would love to watch it to keep an open mind. There are a number of things to learn from The 355 that would change how you view the world.
Here, You can check out the trailer on YouTube.
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