With five women calling the shots in Tom Harper’s Heart of Stone, the film is a toast to women power

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THE Wonder Woman of Hollywood, Gal Gadot, is known for her action sequences, but it is for the first time that she walks into the realm of spy-thrillers. For the fans of this genre, Heart of Stone offers a host of spies and a predictable story. But with a women-centric narrative, it has some wow moments.

This Tom Harper-directorial is fast-paced and is beautifully shot around the globe. But the screenplay by Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder is a disappointment. Even Gal Gadot’s character Rachel Stone does not have a solid backstory.

The film opens to great background music and a panoramic shot of the snow-capped mountains of Italy. The MI6 team of four, Parker (Jamie Dornan), Yang (Jing Lusi), Bailey (Pail Ready) and Stone are given an extraction task. While Stone serves as behind-the-scenes tech support, in a matter of few minutes, she emerges as the most lethal weapon of the team. A double-agent, she is part of an AI-backed secret organisation called The Charter, functioning for the greater good of mankind. The big extraction also exposes Alia Bhatt as Keya Dhawan, one of the antagonists. While the first 15 minutes are gripping, the script falters soon enough.

As for Alia’s big Hollywood debut, it’s neither good nor bad. A pat on the back for not adopting a phoney accent. The minute you hear her say, “The British are coming’, you know she is staying true to herself. But unfortunately, that’s what you hear— words without emotion. It’s a better debut than Dhanush as ‘The Sexy Tamilian’in The Gray MAn but nowhere The Gray Man but nowhere close to her Highway co-star Randeep Hooda’s debut in Extraction.

Gadot handles action sequences with panache. As agent Nine of Hearts, she is supposed to have a cold heart and stay away from forging emotional bonds, but Gadot does offer some heart-tugging moments as she connects with the dead agent Bailey’s cat and his niece against her better judgment.

The film hints at a franchise, with The Charter being the new covert organisation and has already introduced mysterious characters, Jack (Matthias Schweighöfer), Queen of Hearts (Sophie Okonedo), Nine of Hearts (Gal Gadot), Six of Hearts (Diana Yekinni) and Joker (Alia).

The music composed by Steven Price and cinematography by George Steel are high points of this two-hour-five minute fare. George has previously worked with Tom in The Aeronauts (2019) and Peaky Blinders (2013), so their collaborative effort is noticeable. Just like Alia’s character who is confused whether to do good or seek revenge, the plot too lacks conviction. While it has many loopholes, its heart beats for women with five women (four agents and a villain) calling the shots. Definitely, it’s a one-time watch.