User reviews

Who selected these actors, and why does Banderas do this garbage? He can clearly do that better.

The main actress should consider whether she wants to continue playing at the level, or should rather take on easier roles. She holds the weapon like a beginner and embodies the assassin very badly. The close combat scenes were hidden in the dark. Were you so bad that this was necessary?

I had no expectations to the 2022 action thriller "Code Name Banshee" from writer Matthew Rogers and director Jon Keeyes as I sat down to watch it. In fact, I had never heard about the movie prior to sitting down to watch it. But I figured that it might be worth a watch.

The storyline in "Code Name Banshee" was a bit too bland and monotonous to really fall into my liking. There simply wasn't enough happening to keep the momentum going. So it was a rather generic and dull experience sitting through this. Sure, there were a few gun fight scenes throughout the movie, but it was simply drowned out in a tirade of slow paced narrative and monotonous dialogue.

I figured that the movie might have had some worth to it since it had both Antonio Banderas and Jaime King on the cast list. Turned out that I was not right in my assumption. "Code Name Banshee" felt like one of those numerous movies that Bruce Willis has been showing up in throughout the many last years; not really worth the effort. And not even Tommy Flanagan could manage to lift up the movie much.

For an action thriller, then "Code Name Banshee" was rather short on both action and thrills. So director Jon Keeyes didn't really deliver a movie that managed to stand out and prove to be overly entertaining or enjoyable. Yet, I managed to endure the movie to the end, though it was my one and only time to do so. Believe you me, I am never returning to watch this movie again, as it was too slow paced and devoid of interesting events.

My rating of "Code Name Banshee" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

Tiresome dialogue, weak action performed by underprepared actors. If you can't hold an automatic at arms length without shaking, you may not want to portray a seasoned assassin. Just saying. Antonio Banderas should have passed on this one. His part in Stallone's "Expendables" was 10 times better than his character in this one. Just sad.

I gave it 2 stars only because it did have Banderas in it and the short preview I saw looked promising. Fool me once and all that... I'll never get the time or my $9 back on this one. Wish I'd checked these reviews first.

And why do they require a minimum of 600 characters in these reviews? In this case I'm forced to ramble on much longer than needed.

D-level movie. Something a bunch of high schoolers could have made on VHS in the 90's. The guns have zero recoil. The acting is below par. The story makes little sense. Just awful.

What happened to Banderas? He used to be awesome.

I'm not sure when it happened, but movies just got really bad over the past few years. Even before covid and the obvious budget cuts. Maybe it was superhero movies that just turned everything into low budget, low effort crap.

What a shame to see someone like Antonio Banderas be reduced to this after his 90s hits.

1 star for a few decent shot compositions and Banderas.

I'm not a rich man, but I'm betting I could have paid Antonio Banderas more to come make omelettes in my own kitchen than they paid him to make this God-awful direct-to-dvd garbage. 2nd worst movie I've seen all year. Seriously made me consider making movies with my cellphone if there's actually profit to be had in creating this stuff.

Looks like Banderas is the next actor to follow the path of Nicholas Cage, Bruce Willis, etc...

This movie was a big swing and a miss, despite the big names in the cast. I thought the whole opening sequence was laughable as the protagonist literally stood in the open while holding two guns out like she's some sort of terminator. From that point on, the story was just cliche and the actions were just boring as expected. They should take a lesson from Kate, which did it right.

However, perhaps the most annoying is the camera work. Again, in 2022 with what we have today in terms of technology, it still baffles me while there are directors who want to get cute and use some poor lighting, old camera style, etc... People want to see crisp clear HD, not a dark near black and white grainy screen.

Terrible film. 2/10.

It's been a while since I've seen Antônio Banderas, he's a little faded on paper. A strange but cool movie. I liked and recommend this cineviagem, and then, you'll see???

OK So it is not NBK, but it holds one's attention, leads with the action and keeps it up to the end. I cannot agree with all these negative reviews. It held my attention, and I wanted to know how it all turned out.

As a completely distracting action romp it serves its purpose.

The previews looked good, and the cast is solid . . . Ish, but the final product is mournful in its shortcomings.

In it all, Tommy Flanagan turns in a six of ten performance, but he is the highlight of the show. King and Banderas showed up, and maybe they did exactly what the director told them, but it is not what we call acting. Arnold has no competition in either Action or Acting in this one - sad.

The fight scenes driven by Jaime King are woefully lacking in talents of combat. She is terribly underweight, and slow, with ungraceful kicks and weak punches, so much so that all sequences of direct impact, blocking, evasion, et al are completely unbelievable.

The relationship between Banshee and Caleb is cold and distant in a way that says, these people are working together but don't know each other, and they don't show any attachment beyond a paycheck.

It really is incredible that a supposed action movie can be so poorly executed across story, action scenes, dialogue and editing. I expected so much more...

Usual revenge story but not very well done. Macho woman verses big hard Scottish man, predictable result in a poor thriller. Usual cliche's for this genre. Give it a miss, get's a three because there is a lot of action in it, albeit predictable and poorly staged.

THINGS I LIKED: The cast includes Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), Jaime King (Black Summer), Tommy Flanagan (Westworld) and Catherine Davis (Run Hide Fight) I always get a kick out of Antonio Banderas, but I was worried about 2 things: his red hair and that this movie might be like one of those terrible Bruce Willis movies that he's been pumping out lately. That being said, I can't wait to hear his voice talents in the next PUSS In Boots movie. You can watch my trailer reaction for Puss in Boots by clicking here. The movie looks awesome.

There is plenty of action.

There is an element of the importance of family: blood-related family, as well as the loyal friends we surround ourselves with.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: I couldn't hear a word anyone said for the first 5 minutes. All of a sudden, the volume picked up.

One of the characters has a thick Irish accent which is often difficult to understand.

I was bored within minutes. Yawn.

The camera angles and shaky cam were super annoying.

Tons of flashbacks and exposition.

I just didn't find any of the characters compelling enough to care about them very much.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: High dead body count with blood splatters Lots of killing with a variety of weapons Profanity, including F-bombs and crude language

THEMES: Revenge Family Loyalty Risk Parenting Legacy

YouTube channel.

I don't know what's worse, the acting, the writing, or the plot believability. Just when I think it's one, another gets worse. I think a group of high schoolers who enjoy movies could have written a better script with a more believable plot. I've seen high school students act better.

Someone goes into hiding, but doesn't look any differently? A high priced assassin that works with a team of 40 people? A tech expert that can hack the CIA, but has no security for his house? An assassin that can barely hold a gun, but never misses? A guy in hiding with a super thick accent in an area where no one has an accent? Are we supposed to not recognize that Antonio has an accent? Operatives that are so close that one has no idea the other has a family. Was there even a director or did they just roll out lines and let the actors figure it out? Is this the type of dribble that we can expect from Hollyweird in the future? It sure looks like it. I literally stopped watching 3 times. I only finished the movie just so I could write the review and be sure it didn't get better past the halfway point. Spoiler alert...it didn't.

Not sure why Antonio allowed his name in this. Probably the Bruce Willis thing. Call it in for a check. Who knows, I didn't make it that far. Jaime King never could act. She's aging hard and still can't act. When I saw it take on the believability of a Schwarzenegger movie, I quit. 10 guys with machine guns open up on her - miss - and she takes them out with pistols. Yup, click. Gave it a 2 because it wasn't one of those high school extra credit projects.

I'm a big fan of Antonio B and Tommy F, so I really enjoyed this film. Yes, one has to suspend disbelief, but isn't that the point of an action thriller?

I've sat through worse action movies that had higher IMDB ratings, so I gave it a 7.0 because it deserves a 5.3 instead of a 3.4. It's a comic book for heavens' sake. Lighten up. Sure, Jaime King bothered me because she looked like Michael Jackson and can't act... but, seriously, for a late night action flick, you could do much worse (I know I have).

Hands down the worst movie I have ever seen. I even registered here just to warn other people to steer clear. Whoever says they enjoyed this film has the IQ of a wet teabag - there is nothing, and I sincerely mean nothing, that can even remotely be considered a redeeming quality. I hope the paid Banderas well.

The story is basic but so many holes send in a team to do a job all get killed then ask next team how many they have and they say enough but they again got killed. The film was a special kind of stupid planned operation just burn the house down it was good enough for Winston Churchill.

Everyone puts on a deep voice, faux depression, and acts tough.

In reality, people who have been through a lot 'act' sociable & comfortable to cover the pain. It can be seen in John Wick, Jack Reacher and others... but in this film, it's the opposite.

Music and shaky camera movements try to force drama.

I came across this movie totally by accident, and although the cast looked impressive (particularly with Banderas) the recent stream of appalling movies with actors like Willis, Cage and a handful of others meant I was guarded (at best) on its prospects for being decent... and as it turns out my scepticism was completely warranted.

Banderas is as always accomplished, and! Puts his heart into his work delivering a solid performance as you'd expect, but he can't carry this one (no single actor could) since on the whole the movie just fails to deliver on so many fronts.

It's really a pale shadow of the story it should be offering an insufficient level of suspense, dialogue, story, action and overall engagement to pull off a film of this genre. In fact, the overall experience is a little like the title, underwhelming and somewhat misleading.

One of the major problems is with the lead played by Jamie King. She is seriously miscast here and hasn't the on-screen presence, the physical dexterity, or the acting capability to pull this one off, and what she lacks she does in some considerable measure.

I love strong female characters, but if you're selling me one, make it authentic and not some Poundland or Wallmart alternative. Her inability to hold a gun steady is a glaringly obvious disaster even for a casual observer, but the choreography she delivers in the fight scenes had me doubting if she could successfully even take on my eighty three year old grandmother, who is a specialist in her own right with a wooden spoon. That said, she isn't the sole cause of the films failure to deliver, just another aspect of one of the many facets that wasn't addressed sufficiently.

There is no excitement here, just another mediocre delivery to pass time or have on in the background and even though I made it to the end, I don't recommend it.