Those Who Wish Me Dead

The charmingly titled Those Who Wish Me Dead is the third film from director Taylor Sheridan who had previously directed Wind River as well as being the writer behind both Sicario films and Hell or High Water. Within the space of half a decade, Sheridan has built an impressive resume of earthy, masculine films and the TV series Yellowstone which have all generally found success with viewers and critics alike so the idea of putting Angelina Jolie's smokejumper into the Montana wilderness against some dubious criminals sounded exciting on paper. On paper that is...

Based on a novel of the same name but with some changes that is to be expected with most adaptations, Those Who Wish Me Dead stars Jolie as a smokejumper who has been reassigned to a fire lookout tower following a rescue attempt that went very wrong for which she feels responsible. During her isolated work in the sweeping woods of Montana, she finds a child being pursued by two ruthless killers (Aiden Gillen and Nicholas Hoult) who have started an enraging fire to ensure the secrets the child carries never get out.

To call this Cliffhanger in the woods instead of the snowy mountains wouldn't be far wrong and much of this feels like a 1990s action adventure. We have the jaded maverick protagonist, a perilous situation and cartoon-like bad guys but sadly everything here feels like a TV movie and beneath its talented cast, which also includes Tyler Perry and Jon Bernthal. The action is fairly ridiculous with the villains displaying less logic than the burglars in Home Alone to create drama and Sheridan's screenplay feels bloated with a number of unnecessary scenes that serve only to pad out the thin story. 

Thankfully, Jolie makes for a solid protagonist as the most immaculate looking smokejumper (I defy anyone to come out of a blazing inferno looking as well as she does here) and within this messy script is a good story to be had. Bernthal is excellent as ever as he reunites again with Sheridan and I hope the child actor, Finn Little, has a great career ahead of him as he is brilliant here. The problem is the distressing drama the child is placed in jars tonally with the almost goofy killers and by the end, not even the impressive visuals as the fire engulfs wilderness could save me from checking how much longer was left.

There is a lot of potential in a film about smokejumpers, something the intro teases briefly in an exciting sequence, or with fire watchmen but this is sadly not it. Those Who Wish Me Dead isn't terrible but is far from the usual quality many have come to expect from Sheridan given the strength of his cast. Those looking for an moderately entertaining flick in a similar vain to Cliffhanger will some enjoyment but for everyone else I would recommend skipping this.