By: Jackson Weaver
Staff Writer
Many people would give up everything to be the most popular or be a part of an exclusive few, but Megan, the protagonist of the film “Barely Lethal”, wants nothing to do with being a spy desperately wants to be a normal teenager.
“Barely Lethal”, directed by Kyle Newman, begins with a witty and clever idea of a teenage spy trying to hide her identity. Ultimately, the film is plagued with a jumbled plot resulting from Newman’s inability to combine the comedic high school scenario with the alternative action based thriller.
Megan Walsh (Hailee Steinfeld), born an orphan, goes to dire measures and fakes her own death to escape the prestigious life as a secret agent always looked upon by her peers. As a young child she was taken from her orphan home and forced into training to become a deadly killer causing her to want to run away from this secret agent institution.
Megan and 83 other orphans are brought together by espionage leader Hardman (Samuel L. Jackson) to become trained assassins under his command. As Megan’s training progresses she realizes that Hardman only uses the young girls for his illegal activities such as chasing down his arch nemesis Victoria Knox (Jessica Alba) and that she is in danger.
Furthermore, this teenage high school drama combined with an action packed storyline that distracts the viewer from the main purpose of the film, the concept of a fist fighting secret agent. This leads to confusion between the concept of her character being this methodical spy when she acts as a naive schoolgirl trying to fit into her high school.
In addition, Newman spirals between a teenage love story and a half hearted attempt at exhilarating action. Random scenes of cars being shot at by guns and shoddily staged fist fights seem almost forced into the storyline. The lack of accuracy when shooting these fight scenes has a major impact on the film’s outcome.
The actress playing the role of Megan, Hailee Steinfeld, performs strongly in her far less complex role. Steinfeld has just recently emerged as a breakout star because of her poignant character that stands out similarly in her newest film, “Barely Lethal”.
Supporting character, Hardman, played by Samuel L. Jackson does an exceptional job creating an intense mood by training young girls to become cold blooded killers. Instead of treating them as Barbie girls, he cleverly manipulates all the orphans into fierce education of martial arts and learning how to pinpoint aim with a gun showing. This displays Jackson’s ability to play any role he is placed into and perform superbly.
One major setback of the film is the action events such as staged fist fights and minimal violence which did not have the edge needed in an action film. By adding realistic violent scenes and giving an edge to the film would place more focus on the action aspect rather than the teenage drama, for an overall better film.
Other than strong performances by actress Hailee steinfeld and Samuel L. Jackson, director Kyle Newman struggles with the identity between a teenage love story and the action-based film. The action film Newman put together lacked the violence and edge for a heightened tone.
“Barely Lethal” is rated PG 13 and is available both on Amazon and in theaters nationwide.
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