The 355 - A Movie Review

We’re the 355. We can handle any fight. Bring on the battles!

A CIA agent learns that a top-secret weapon has slipped into the wrong hands. Joining forces with a band of women international agents, their mission to fight for this lethal weapon is not easy. They’re also being followed in their tracks.

Hoping that The 355 would be an entertaining action film with four incredible actresses, the film felt scattered. Maintaining fierce action sequences, The 355 didn’t retain enough interactions between the women which is what the film is all about.

Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong’o were all great. They went through extensive training for the action sequences. The interactions between the women were the best part. I loved the scene where they’re sitting in a bar, recounting and having a laugh about their first assignments and kills.

Chastain is a remarkable actress. I’m impressed with the ranges that she can do. It was Chastain’s idea to have a female-led spy film. She indulged in her character. Out of the women, we know the least Mace. That is on purpose. Only Chastain could connect to Mace.

Acting in this film was a chance to implement different acting sides. Nyong’o is an example. I have only seen her in a couple of dramatic roles, but never something that showcased her comedic side. She needs more roles like this.

I was hoping that The 355 would center around their interactions but they didn’t get enough. This film isn’t sure what to focus on. The script felt rushed. The writing was lazy like they didn’t know where the film was going from the beginning.

Even character actions become redundant. Graciela (Cruz) constantly complained about how she should not be on this dangerous mission because she has a family. Although it was an important plot detail regarding the woman’s families, it was overused.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a female-led film? What was the point of Nick’s (Sebastian Stan) character? He took away from the story, even returning in an unnecessary surprise that, unfortunately, we could see coming.

Another female credit includes BingBing Fan. To me, she just randomly shows up in the story and becomes a member of the team of women. Fan was wonderful in her role. I wish there could have been a stronger lead-up.

More credits include Jason Flemyng, Pablo Scola, Marcello Cruz, Edgar Ramirez, and Sylvester Groth. Most of the ensemble is here to do the usual villain or ensemble duties. More focus should have been attained on the women as this was their film.

Even the action sequences felt a bit out of place. The action was redundant, along with the story. The stunts were well-performed, however. I am interested to see how the cast performed these stunts and how long it took to shoot these scenes.

Simon Kinberg worked well with the women for The 355 but the story lacked creative opportunities. Kinberg didn’t pay enough attention to the story before putting the film on its feet. It didn’t have any surprises. Sometimes, it was confusing to follow the story and why they were on this mission.

We have had female-led spy films but they had more depth than The 355. For example, Ocean’s 8 (2018). In this film, the women had stronger characters and there was more of a story at play.

This film was not ready for release and it shows. It could have been a better film. All in all, The 355 is still worth a watch. Find it in theaters or stream it on Peacock.