Jolt (2021) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Germany ]

This is not a psychological thriller, it does not present any deep mysteries, serious insight to the human condition (whatever that means), or any such thing. This is a movie about an absurdly badass and unstable woman who beats the crap out of a bunch of people who really have it coming. If you like simple, whiz-bang, over the top action flicks with wisecracking "heroes" fighting obvious and easily identifiable bad guys ("Shoot 'Em Up" with Clive Owen comes to mind as a version with a male protagonist and more guns) then you're going to enjoy this movie.Lindy, Beckinsdale's character, is just sympathetic enough that an audience who isn't thinking about her "condition" too hard can root for her as she jacks up a bunch of dirtbags. And a bitchy waitress at one point. That was probably an overreaction by any standards but the waitress really was a petty and unrepentant bitch for the sake of being a petty bitch (bragging about exactly that on a phone call when Lindy beats her senseless) and we've all honestly wanted to just punch people like that at some point.Then she finally meets a nice guy that makes her happy to be around and she gets giddy from the feeling of actually being able to enjoy pleasant human contact for once in her otherwise miserable life. Only for him to get murdered just before their third date, sending her on a pissed off rampage for revenge. She even frequently comments how she barely knew him and probably seems like some kind of crazy obsessive psychopath "but he was really nice" and didn't deserve what happened so she wants to make sure whatever scumbags were behind his murder pay for it and don't hurt anybody else.You're not going to get a particularly accurate portrayal of realistic mental health issues as everything with Lindy's condition is absurdly simplified and summed up as such in the opening voiceover: for whatever reason she just has next to zero natural impulse control when she gets angry and people being jerks really piss her off. She's made sympathetic by being aware that this isn't normal and she tries really hard to not be a hair trigger berserker by trying a lot of things to channel, suppress, or otherwise control her violent outbursts to the point that she clings to a painful electroshock vest like a security blanket because frequently shocking herself is the only thing that seems to work reliably enough to give her a chance at something resembling a normal life. Just in case we need extra emphasis of this point, when another character asks how it feels and she zaps herself while he's touching the vest, causing him to recoil in pain, he says that her using the thing shows that she'd rather hurt herself than hurt others and that makes her a good person. Even though she's still clearly nuts.The plot is just coherent enough to follow along as an excuse to feel good about watching Kate Beckinsdale kick a lot of ass while making witty and often crude comments. No, getting really angry isn't a realistic explanation for all the stuff Lindy is capable of but they at least give the excuse of her having a past of military training (before getting kicked out for violent outbursts) and martial arts training being among her failed attempts at learning self discipline.Some of the soundtrack isn't great, but otherwise the production value is very good. The script and characters are corny and silly at times, but the acting and directing are great as long as you factor in how they were clearly going for the cheesy fast paced feel of a whiz-bang, over the top action flick. Don't think too hard, grab some popcorn and maybe a beer or whatnot, sit back, and enjoy the shiny whoopass for a bit.

Jolt...kinda like that disgusting drink so many of my classmates were drinking in college to pull all nighters. Gives you a rush for a time but the crash is really hard and really ugly.Kate Beckinsale is still a stunner in this film and the Tanya Wexler filmed her quite a few times in such a way to remind people of that fact. Even all wired up like a duracell battery Kate's a head turner. Watching Jolt I couldn't help wonder what Atomic Blonde would have been like if Kate Beckinsale played the lead instead of Charlize Theron. Don't get me wrong, Charlize is phenomenal in that film, I've been a fan of her for some time. She almost made me like Aeon Flux...almost. But Kate Beckinsale has really good screen presence too, can obviously handle an action role if Underworld is any indication and she can act (I really liked her in Widow and Nothing But the Truth).But Jolt, has issues. The initial premise behind Kate's character Lindy is good. The presentation of that premise in the beginning of the film is also good. Tanya Wexler has a very good sense of style that really works in the first 15 minutes or so in the film. But the problem is, the film starts to unravel because the progression becomes absurd. Some of the circumstances presented later in the film go too far over the top to the point that the intrigue inspired by Lindy early on transforms into far too many eye roll, "come on now" moments.Half way through Jolt started to make me feel like what the John Wick films have become. The first Wick film is still the best and there should have never been a sequel. Wick 2 isn't bad but not as good as the first and key points are repeated from the first film but not as good the second time around. A pointless film really. The third film is okay at best with the best part IMO being Halle Berry fighting with the dogs. SHE would have been awesome as a lead because Halle proved she can definitely handle a real action role where she has to get grimy in the fight scenes. Besides, older women that look fantastic and can still kick some tail are so in right now. Loved Halle in Wick 3 but that's about it. I have no faith that the next John Wick is going to be good even though Donnie Yen AND Hiroyuki Sanada are in it but I'd love to be wrong on that score. Jolt as a film, progresses like the John Wick series except the decline didn't come over 3 films but over the course of one film.It's a shame too because the initial premise of Lindy and all the things attempted to control her rage are awesome but made the ending very predictable. Her condition makes for awesome storytelling because a lot of people can relate to her urges. I know I can but so much more could have been done in both presentation and the writing. I wasn't even surprised to see the ending of Jolt. An ending that is so hamfisted in setting up a sequel it inspired another eye roll.The supporting cast isn't quite up to snuff either. Kate Beckinsale stands out despite the decline, but that's it. Laverne Cox was wasted and I thought her character has a two part problem. One part not being written particularly well and two, there was no chemistry with her cop partner Bobby Cannavale in the film. There was literally no back story or relevant development with either character which is sad because Bobby Cannavale is also a better actor than Jolt would indicate. The entire cop presence is just weaksauce throughout the film as if Cox and Cannavale are the only two cops in the entire city. Jai Courtney is a good actor but he's under utilized and his last scene sucked because the conclusion to the story ultimately doesn't stick the landing. It just didn't make any sense in the context of what's presented about Gareth Fizel, Jai's boss in the film. Gareth is like the Kingpin, even the Feds won't go after him but he gets owned, like THAT? Give me a break. Stanley Tucci was good though. I liked him in Jolt.Anyways, I'll stop there as this is already long enough. 2* because Jolt could have been something really special. It even starts off strong, but then it descends into a hot mess of bad storytelling, extreme violence with far too many "come on now" moments. If a sequel is made, supreme efforts need to be taken to make Jolt 2 the equivalent of Empire Strikes Back compared to A New Hope. A sequel that's far better than the original.

Good film but Blu Ray is in German so returned

Der Plot hätte interessant werden können, leider wurde auf ganzer Linie das mögliche Potential verschenkt. Der Film versucht spannend, überraschend, actiongeladen und witzig zu sein und kann nichts davon richtig, Was schade ist, denn ähnliche Filme wie Lucy oder Ohne Limit haben bereits vorgezeigt, wie man das Thema gut umsetzen kann. Kate Beckinsale bleibt leider im Rahmen ihrer (bescheidenen) schauspielerischen Möglichkeiten und man erkennt keinen Unterschied zu den Darbietungen in der Underworld-Reihe. Zwei statt einem Stern nur deswegen, weil der Film im Vergleich zu anderen nicht körperlich weh tut und Luft nach unten sein muss.

...und Spaß hatten die Beteiligten vor der Kamera dabei offensichtlich auch. Der Film nimmt sich auch keine Sekunde selbst ernst, ist schwarzhumorig, krawallig, schnell und laut, sieht dabei aber nicht billig aus - gerade das Richtige für einen entspannten Filmabend. Man geht mit einem Grinsen ins Bett und freut sich auf die Fortsetzung, die hoffentlich bald kommt.

Ein bisschen abgedreht alles! Klar, Kate Beckinsale ist ein Hingucker, auch in diesem Film! Die Story ist aber schon recht mühsam und am Ende von der Auflösung her auch nicht so überzeugend!Humor teilweise echt fragwürdig! Also, wer es lustig findet, dass Säuglinge durch die Gegend geworfen werden….schon etwas sehr deplatziert für Unterhaltung!

Für Liebhaber dieses Genres ein sehr gut gemachter Film. Hervorzuheben die schauspielerische Leistung einer lustvoll aufspielenden Hauptdarstellerin.