THE AMATEUR REVIEW (2025)

⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5

Charles is an introverted CIA officer, although highly intelligent, he prefers working behind the scenes. However, when his wife is murdered in a terrorist attack in London. Charles takes it upon himself to get trained, hunt the killers and exact revenge. A mission that will take him travelling across the globe.

Review

A lukewarm spy thriller about a brokenhearted husband’s campaign of vengeance. What got me interested in watching the film was the strong premise. A shy geeky person having  having a personality change due to unfortunate circumstances. I felt there would be lots of comical opportunities as well scenes of personal growth for Charles.

However, although there are a few puns and Rami Malik does a stellar job portraying Charles awkwardness. I just feel that there could have been a lot more comedy moments. For example, Charles failing to impersonate a mercenary during a gang meeting because of his introverted nature. 

The movie is a adaption of a 1981 film by the same name that was based on a book. It would be interesting to watch the film and see the comparison. The film struggles to lift the somber and slightly depressing cloud that hangs over Charles.Flashbacks of his wife are scattered through the film to emphasise his loss. However, this could have been more impactful had we seen more of their relationship at the start of the film. 

Charles’s assassinations become predictable after his first victim. Where he finds a non-violent murder method before using it to blackmail them for information. At the same, time telling them it’s because they killed his wife. It quickly becomes repetitive and awkwardly pointless. As he isn’t going to be able to bring his wife back by killing her killers. 

The murder methods gave me home-alone vibes without the slapstick comedy. Charles is constantly pulling out the “uno reverse card” ethier on the terrorists or the CIA hunting him down. 

However, how he achieves these power plays are under-explained and overtly complicated. As a result, audiences aren’t able to fully appreciate his wittiness as we see in Sherlock Holmes or other detective films. 

Although Charles does find companions through his journey including Henderson and inquiline. They don’t get much screen time or character development. Inquilines death was a very emotional and unexpected plot-twist, especially as she seemed a potential love interest for Charles. However, the movie’s sole focus on his mission makes it difficult for audiences to enjoy other characters and their personalities. 

Henderson’s training regime with Charles was woefully short. I really wanted to see the two of them work together. Especially against the CIA after they’ve been exposed. A lot of the action is replaced by computer jargon, miscellaneous conversations and product placement. 

I liked the idea of the CIA falsely targeting other groups to push its political agenda. However, how Charles discovers this is rushed and under-explained. It would have been better had he the opportunity to see this happening abroad. 

The finale ends on a happy note, but truth be told. Your left feeling like their could have been better ways of Charles coping with his wife’s death then going on a killing spree. If his wife was still alive but held hostage this would have made his journey more justified. For example, In the end, his wife is killed and Charlie has to cope with the consequence. 

To conclude, the injustice for Charles is what keeps viewers begrudgingly watching to the finale. However, there is so much more that Could have been included to make a more diversely entertaining film. Including more action sequences, combat and plot-twists. 

For example, Charlie falls in love with Inquiline and it leads him to halt his killing spree and forgive his wife’s killers. Or Henderson pretends to be his friend tracking down his wife’s killers. Only to double cross Charles at the end. 

Would have personally liked if the film was rebranded as an action comedy. Charles suffers from severe social anxiety. But when he’s wife goes missing, he’s sent on a top secret mission by the CIA to track down her kidnappers. Only to later realise that the whole thing was a rouse so she could spend her holidays at their boss’s house. Upon realising this, he plans the ultimate revenge. 

To conclude, although not unpleasant the amateur doesn’t do anything different to make it more memorable in the thriller/spy genre. It’s USP of the introverted spy is underplayed and becomes pretty pointless handicap when he outsmarts his enemies easily.

DO YOU LIKE BOOKISH ITEMS?

If your a fan of everything bookish, we gurantee you would be interested in our range of Artsmith books. Handpainted souvenirs in the style of books with a beautiful diorama scene inside. Please subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news and our anticipated release.

#Theamatuer #Ramimalek #laurencefishburne #Filmreview #Crime #Thrillerfilm