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Movie review: 'The 355' is cliched but still fun to watch

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Fred Hawson

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A scene from " The="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/entertainment/01/30/20220130-355-movie.jpg"/><figcaption>A scene from &#x27;The 355&#x27;</figcaption></figure></div><p><br/>An international groups of female secret agents, Mace (Jessica Chastain) of the American CIA, Marie (Diane Kruger) from German BND, Khadijah (Lupita Nyong&#x27;o) from the UK MI6, Graciela (Penelope Cruz) from the Colombian DNI, and Lin (Fan Bingbing) from the Chinese MSS, were brought together by circumstance to keep a crucial hard drive containing a top-of-the-line encryption program from getting into the hands of unscrupulous individuals. </p><p>There had been several films about female secret agents, many of them starred A-list actresses kicking ass, from Angelina Jolie (&quot;Salt&quot;), Jennifer Lawrence (&quot;Red Sparrow&quot;), Charlize Theron (&quot;Atomic Blonde&quot;) to Melissa McCarthy (&quot;Spy&quot;). But it was not so common to see a serious film with several big name actresses banding together as a group of spies. The numerical title &quot;355&quot; was the codename for female spies during the American Revolution.</p><p>The ladies, all of whom had won their share of acting awards in their careers, figured in ruthlessly bone-crushing yet visually-graceful fight scenes. Three among the ladies of &quot;The 355&quot; have done action films before. Chastain already played CIA agents in &quot;Zero Dark Thirty&quot; (2012) and &quot;Ava&quot; (2020). Kruger had played a former intelligence officer in &quot;The Operative&quot; (2019). Nyong&#x27;o had also played a spy of sorts in &quot;Black Panther&quot; (2012). </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SV0s2S9reT0?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>Playing Mace here added to the diversity of Chastain&#x27;s roles this year, from &quot;Scenes from a Marriage&quot; to &quot;The Eyes of Tammy Faye,&quot; both getting awards buzz. Kruger projected the most machismo in her action sequences. Nyong&#x27;o was a standout with her riveting screen presence as the smart and skilled Khadijah. Too bad Fan Bingbing&#x27;s Li only showed up in Act III, but she certainly made the most of her shorter screen time. Cruz did not get to see much action as Graciela was a psychologist on her first field mission, but she got more acting points. </p><p>There were sexist remarks among their male antagonists, like &quot;You were beaten by a bunch of girls...&quot; and I guess these were inevitable for a film like this. Similarly inevitable were scenes of the ladies running and fighting in heels. </p><p>The plot is admittedly very familiar already, even cliched. However, the chemistry among the women was very good and realistic, which made this globe-trotting action film quite engaging and even fun to watch. </p><p>This review was originally published in the author&#x27;s blog, “<a href="https://said-fred.blogspot.com/2022/01/review-of-355-estrogen-espionage.html">Fred Said</a>.”</p>

The numerical title '355' was the codename for female spies during the American Revolution.