Review: Jolt

When I first seen the trailer for Jolt I really wasn’t impressed with what I saw. Truth be told I thought it look like just another run of the mill, straight to streaming action flick and while I can’t argue that while my initial impressions were in fact accurate, I quite enjoy the film.

Jolt stars Kate Beckinsale at her ass-kicking best as a former bouncer with more anger management and impulse control issues than my ex-girlfriend. Using what is essentially electric shock therapy to control her violent outbursts, Lindy (Kate Beckinsale) meets a lovely man who she forms a deep connection with, but as things go in these types of films, whether it’s a person or a puppy, he then gets himself murdered and what follows is a somewhat subdued action tale as Lindy sets out seeking vengeance on those responsible.

I didn’t find Jolt to be anywhere near as action heavy as I actually expected it to be and I actually found that to be refreshing. There was actually a decent amount of time given to the setup of the film, the character and the world and while I can’t argue that the entire premise is ridiculous I found myself engaged throughout.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Jolt isn’t anything special but it isn’t something you should be dismissing out of hand either. The film is shot well and it has decent action and some top notch acting from Beckinsale and some of the other supporting cast however I will warn you that it is a touch predictable. Will you enjoy it? Yeah, I think there’s something here for most to sink their teeth into and given the runtime of the film clocks in at just a little over 80mins, you’re in and out before you know it.

My biggest problem though is after everything wraps up, there’s an extra 5mins at the end that we could have really done without as it comes across as being very Nick Fury(ish) when he shows up at the end of Iron Man but other than that Jolt really is a fun little film if you’re looking for an excuse to hide from the sunshine.

by Edward Laing