wolfkin

7/10

That was a fun time. It suffers imo from the problem that many long movies suffer from. Which is to say they can't pace well so they add on another movie. At first I thought this movie was going to be a worse version of Extraction (2020). But then the movie kept going unexpectedly. Over all I'm glad I watched it and would gladly watch it again. Jennifer Lopez had an excellent hot girl turned action girl turn. Almost as good as Megan Fox in Rogue (2020). Fox gets way more marks for difficulty having to play the same type of character in a much smaller more model-ish body even though Lopez gets the nod in verisimilitude. Lopez has done fisticuffs before and I actually think Enough (2002) was a better movie over all but this isn't the role you expect Jennifer Lopez to be in. But she does well enough. She's not a seasoned action star but she's putting in the effort. There are edits that show she isn't doing the running and jumping and gunning like her character but there's enough facetime that you can see she isn't stepping back and letting her stunt double do a movie. Young Lucy Paez surprised me. I kinda thought she was a throwaway character in the first half that's how awkwardly shot things were. She developed. She's still an annoying tween but not nearly as annoying as others (looking at you The Adam Project with your surprisingly solid acting but just awful awful writing). But this is two movies smushed together. One okay and one rather decent. It's Django Unchained all over again in that respect. It's in part the length that gives some of the best parts of the movie time to mature. The problem is the tension isn't even in the movie. It doesn't ratchet up to bigger more serious stakes. It can't because it has to squeeze in another movie to it just feels empty in parts. I'd have liked to see this redited or rewritten to smooth out what they no doubt term Act 2 and Act 3 but in actuality are just Movie 1 and Movie 2 and craft a single well paced movie even if it was long. Of course I could hear editors grumbling about how you could do the same thing by just trimming the fat with some minor reshoots. The estranged mother-daughter relationship works. It's one of the more interesting parts of the movie and it's the part I thought wasn't going to get enough attention at first. The other relationships don't. The hint that Mother and Cruise might have been into each other felt gratuitous. In another movie I would have wanted it sure but here it felt like someone said "We have Jennifer Lopez we can't have like NO sex appeal anywhere." which after some very tasteful shot selections earlier in the movie felt like what they were going to do which was kinda awesome. Still it never got too bad. All my problems with this movie tend to be with the people behind the camera rather than in front of it which I suppose might say something. The last act takes place in the winter in a wooded area and honestly there are just so many odd choices made it's like they were only made to setup cool set pieces. If they're sneaking in on foot why do they have individual snowbikes? It's for cool snowbike shots. We have a character who has proven herself to be willing to fight and soon as she gets kidnapped she's like a bird in a hood. Stops doing anything while they drive her away... why? So there can be a sick takedown shot.

vylmen

0/10

Ironically, these tale about a mother and daughter, fails because the male characters have no depth. The villain is evil sure, but also extremely stupid and escaping from her first attempt to kill him in a very unbelievable and unexplained way. The romantic tension between Cruise and the mother also doesn't work and the age old friendship with Jons is also not given any backstory. I'm enclined to blame the casting here. Well, the story was lacking and oddly edited as well, but it may be because there wasn't much to work with. Either way, it's clear this is supposed to be about a mother/daughter relationship, but also be an action move and the director / writers / actors couldn't make it work. 3/10, 2 points cause I've seen worse, not because I can find something positive in it.

The Movie Mob

0/10

**The Mother is an average straight-to-stream action thriller that does a decent job but won’t last too long in your memory or heart.** The Mother is a generic assassin turned parent protecting/avenging their child from a mob of drug runners/arms dealers. While in the vein of films like Taken or Peppermint, The Mother makes a critical error the other films didn’t - a 2-hour runtime. Its bigger budget made this movie feel slightly more polished, but stretching its meager story 30 minutes longer than many in this subgenre took its toll. The pacing dragged along between the action sequences, sometimes leaving the movie feeling too long and tedious. The production quality of the action set pieces was decent, but the action itself was fairly basic. Jennifer Lopez is fun as the intense and withdrawn mother assassin and undoubtedly is the best part of the movie. The Mother is nowhere near an awful film, and reviews that say otherwise probably set their expectations too high. It's a run-of-the-mill action streamer that gets the job done, blows some stuff up, shoots some bad guys, and despite being forgettable, didn’t feel like a total waste of time.

MovieGuys

0/10

In spite of the rather, by now, predictable and formulaic story, woke-ness and a dash of US exceptionalism (for those paying attention) The Mother does have something to offer the viewer. The first thing, is surprisingly engaging acting, from Jennifer Lopez. I'd always associated her with music, although I was aware of her forays into acting, over the years. Lopez hands in an above average performance as a assassin, with mothering instincts. Lopez's chemistry with Lucy Paez, who hands in a strong performance, as her daughter, really binds this film together and elevates it, beyond its otherwise pedestrian credentials. Action wise, there's a lot on offer too but its rather forgettable. Ultimately, its the performances of the lead cast, that make this film, a modest success.

MSB

0/10

MORE SPOILER-FREE MINI-REVIEWS @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/mini-reviews-2023-edition "The Mother is an instantly forgettable Netflix film about a spy mother who must protect her estranged daughter because "bad people from the past". Jennifer Lopez is good, Lucy Paez is GREAT, but none save it from its bland, generic story. Expected more from Niki Caro." Rating: D+