Heart of Stone: A Spy Movie That Breaks No New Ground

Heart of Stone (2023)

Running Time: 2h 2m

Age Rating: PG-13

Genres: Action, Crime, Thriller

My Rating: 🎬🎬

Netflix’s Heart of Stone is a spy movie like any typical spy thriller. There is nothing original or surprising about it. The movie follows the same formula as many other spy movies, with predictable twists, clichéd characters, and cheesy dialogue. The movie tries to be serious and suspenseful, but it often comes across as boring and silly.

The movie stars Gal Gadot as Rachel Stone, a covert agent who works for The Charters, a secret organization that works for world peace. She is assigned to stop a hacker, Keya Dhawan, from controlling “The Heart”, an AI quantum computer that can hack into any digital device.

The movie starts with a promising premise, with Stone going undercover as an MI6 technician to join a mission in the Italian Alps. Jamie Dornan plays Parker, the leader of the MI6 team, who turns out later to be a double agent working with the hacker Dhawan. Stone has to stop them from activating The Heart and killing the leaders of The Charter.

Sounds like a typical spy thriller, right? Well, yes, but not in a very good way. The movie is so predictable that you can guess the plot twists before they happen. You can easily tell that Parker is the bad guy from the beginning. You can also tell that Keya is not really evil, because she has a tragic backstory and a soft spot for Stone. You can also tell that Stone will survive every danger, because she is the main character and she has plot armor.

The plot is kind of cheesy, and I cringed at some moments. The movie is full of clichés and plot holes that make it hard to take seriously. For example, why does Parker need to implant a device in Stone’s body to hack into The Charter’s system, when he already has access to their network through Keya? Why does Stone trust Keya so easily? Why does The Charter have such poor security measures, when they are supposed to be the most secretive and powerful organization in the world? We’ll never know.

The cast of Heart of Stone is good; however, the acting is awfully bad. Gadot is a charismatic and beautiful actress, but she is stuck playing a bland and emotionless character who doesn’t have much depth or backstory. Dornan’s character as the villain is so cartoonish and predictable. The supporting cast is forgettable, and I barely remember who was who. 

The only thing that saves Heart of Stone from being a complete disaster is the action. The movie has some impressive and exciting action scenes. It has some nice visuals, such as the exotic locations, the sleek gadgets, and the cool costumes. But these are not enough reasons to make it a good movie.

Heart of Stone is a spy movie that breaks no new ground and offers no surprises or thrills. It’s an okay movie that you can watch if you have nothing else to do. But if you have high expectations from spy and action movies, you might want to skip it.