Now available on Blu-ray, DVD and digital is the Angelina Jolie action thriller, Those Who Wish Me Dead.
The film also stars actor Nicholas Hoult (X-Men, Warm Bodies). The film was directed by Oscar Nominee Taylor Sheridan (Hell or Highwater).
Forest fires are happening much more frequently lately. It seems like there is always a forest fire (or more!) happening on the west coast.
I’ve seen videos and pictures of forest fires, and I must say, they are things nightmares are made of. Just thinking about them make my heart drop.
I give all the credit in the world to the men and women who fight forest fires, and help to protect the loss of human lives, as well as nature.
In Those Who Wish Me Dead, Angelina Jolie stars as Hannah. She is what people call a “smoke jumper” – someone who literally jumps (from a plane) into the middle of forest fires to fight them. You have to be a special kind of (crazy) person to want to do that, but I appreciate people like this.
Tragedy happens, and Hannah takes the blame for it. She is reassigned to a watch tower in the middle of the woods to keep an eye on the weather, and to look for fires.
Hannah suffers from PTSD and overwhelming guilt over something that happened earlier that put her in the watch tower.
Meanwhile…
An accountant named Owen (Jake Weber) flees his home with his young son, Conner (Finn Little). Owen has evidence against a mob boss, Arthur Phillip (Tyler Perry). Phillip is aware of this, and sends two of his thugs, Jack (Aiden Gillen) and Patrick (Hoult) Blackwell.
The Blackwells are hot on their trail when tragedy strikes and Conner finds himself alone and scared in the woods. Thankfully for him he meets up with Hannah. Hannah takes it upon herself to help young Connor while trying to keep him from getting into the hands of the Blackwells.
To add to all of this, a massive forest fire is throwing a “wrench” into the middle of everything. So in addition to protecting Conner from the Blackwells, Hannah has to protect themselves from the raging fire.
Can Hannah get Conner to the safety of his Sheriff Uncle Ethan (Jon Bernthal, The Walking Dead) and aunt Allison (Medina Senghore) before the Blackwells get to him? And what about the fire? As a firefighter, she also has an obligation to protect others from the raging fire? To find out what happens, you need to purchase or rent Those Who Wish Me Dead. Look for it where ever you purchase or rent movies.
I’m used to seeing Angelina Jolie in action movies. My husband loves her Lara Croft movies, so we’ve seen them a few times. I’ve also seen her in movies like Salt and Wanted. One thing is for sure – Angelina knows how to kick a$$, and in this movie, that is no exception. She might not do logic defining stunts like she does in the Lara Croft movies, but none the less, she’s someone I wouldn’t wan to mess with.
I’ve only seen Jon Bernthal in The Walking Dead as Shane. He wasn’t exactly a favorite character of mine (entertaining, but you wouldn’t want to root for him and Laurie). It was nice to see him in this film. At first all I saw was “Shane” when I saw him on the screen, but towards the end I saw him as a whole new character. He’s no longer just “Shane.”
Nicholas Hoult is another character I now see in a new light. I’ve only see Hoult in Jack the Giant Slayer and Warm Bodies. Seeing him as a diehard, ruthless, killer was an eye opener for me. I actually think he’s a better dramatic actor than a comedic actor.
I give young Finn Little a lot of credit. He’s surrounded by seasoned actors in this film, but he made sure to stand out. I didn’t realize that Little is the same boy from the film Storm Boy. WOW! What a huge difference a few years make. I would have never realized that if I didn’t look him up on IMDB.
Overall I really enjoyed this film. Forest fires are terrifying enough without trying to run and hide from ruthless people trying to kill you.
The Blu-ray and DVD features these extras;
- Making Those Who Wish Me Dead
Did you see this film? If so, what did you think about it? Feel free to comment and share your thoughts. I always love to hear from readers.
Below is the trailer for your enjoyment.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.