What a fun, unique movie. The idea of using fight scenes where reasonability takes a back seat to emotional impact is super cool. They almost feel analogous to how musicals use a less than literal music and dance numbers. On that note, I think that the inclusion of a dance scene is definitely points in the direction of comparing the fight scenes and the musical numbers.
The plot itself is refreshing in an action movie where it’s all personal stakes and not world ending stakes. I’m a little ambivalent on the third act twist of it turning from Ria’s selfishness being the motivation to Raheela’s fucked up sci-fi plan. On the one hand, I think it makes sense for the genre because otherwise we have to accept a protagonist in the wrong, which just feels bad in this kind of movie. On the other, it just feels kinda cheap.
Honestly the real charm of this movie is the characters. Ria and her friends are all fun and have great chemistry. Kovacs is a quality secondary antagonist cum ally. Raheela’s descent into cackling Big Bad is a sight to see. I’ll be interested in seeing where many of these actors end up in the future.