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Rami Malek has had a mixed career path since leaving Mr. Robot and being universally loved for his performance in that show. His turn as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody was average at best, his turn in Bond as a villain forgettable. Here he’s cast as an average at best CIA decoder who’s never believed to be a killer, never fired a gun, cast into action when his wife dies overseas at London in a very recognisable Kings Cross St Pancreas Station – prompting Heller to go on a mission for revenge when his superiors aren’t doing anything to hold the guys responsible. There’s just one problem – Heller is an Amateur to the spy field, preferring to operate behind the computer rather than in the field.

Coming out after Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag you’d expect a spy movie focused around a husband-wife to have high expectations going in but instead what we get is a Jason Bourne knockoff that can’t even match Legacy, let alone the original trilogy. Malek isn’t the best at portraying a grieving husband thrust into revenge and his conviction lacks the movie star power that 90s guys like Pierce Brosnan or something similar used to carry in their sleep.

It’s evident by the fact that he’s surrounded by co-stars that are much more interesting than he is, Jon Bernthal – the perennial “that guy” in modern movies, shows up for a few minutes and has the time of his life. Laurence Fishburne is the coolest guy in the room at every scene, physically intimidating as Heller’s trainer and later assassin. The Amateur gets all the Bourne tropes, the many locations, the escaping from the CIA assassins, the targets in quick successions – but it can’t quite match the same everyman feel as Bourne or have the same character drama. There’s a touch of forced nature to Malek’s performance that say, Damon doesn’t have, or Fishburne. It’s easy to get lost in the globetrotting scale of things that it’s important to remember character is just as key and I didn’t quite buy his rapid escalation from incompetent desk jockey to Bond superspy after a week of training – if that; the time-jumps don’t really make it clear how long Heller was training for and it feels rushed.

The ending is about as predictable as these thrillers get. Had it come out in the 90s it probably would’ve developed a cult following and be remembered much more fondly, yes it would be rawer but I think that’s what this movie needs as the best bits are when it embraces the chaos and the thrilling chase scenes in Istanbul are where The Amateur truly comes to life. Its on location footage is its biggest strength as it makes each scene and the danger in each scene feel real and honest; with Malek running through like a lost puppy.

Hawes has experience in this field as a director of spy series Slow Horses but the miscast nature of its lead actor really kills the atmosphere here. The premise is great but Malek feels too experienced, too world-worn to take the role of a greenhorn new to the field. Had this been his first major role since Mr. Robot maybe a fresher face would’ve helped, but he feels already transformed before his transformation begins – making the switch from guy-at-the-chair to stone-cold killer feeling a touch fast, rushed. It feels like there’s much more at work beneath the surface – two scenes with Bernthal who shows the charisma that we could’ve had, and a much more interesting storyline that the film never really gets the chance to explore – suggests that it was very much chopped down in the edit.

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