Directed by Michael Polish (Terror on the Prairie, Force of Nature), from a script by Alexander Vesha (“Alert: Missing Persons Unit” TV series, Deadly Impact), Alarum is a good spy thriller, but not an “edge of your seat” thrilling experience despite the talented cast. The story is not hard to follow, like other spy movies with planes, guns, flash drives, spies, good guys, bad guys, assassins, etc. This statement may appear simplistic, but that is what the audience gets in the movie Alarum. I like the action and most of the performances. The actors can only do so much with the script and the direction they receive for each character. This film is best enjoyed as home entertainment.
The film begins with a spy in a hotel room, Joe Travers (Scott Eastwood), and an assassin, Laura (Willa Fitzgerald), shooting at him. With no sense of their history or knowledge of each other, it seems unusual when they fall out of a window and suddenly in each other’s arms. Trust me, the assassination mission was not completed. While working for rival intelligence agencies, Joe does not continue his duties, but Laura does. Maybe he is happy to be a kept husband now after five years and travels with Laura on missions. (Who knows? It is not in the script.) This mission at a ski resort makes a great getaway.
Laura is gathering information on Roland Rousseau (Joel Cohen), who is at a resort with his wife (Isis Valverde). Roland has an ankle problem. The two couples planned to go on a resort tour, but changes in Laura’s assignment have her stay behind where Roland is. Joe goes on the resort tour with Rousseau’s wife. When a helicopter crashes into the snowy terrain, an armed militia arrives, taking orders from a killer with a heavy accent (Mike Colter, The Union, “Luke Cage” and “Evil” TV series). Looking through the wreckage, he does not find what he is looking for; guns down one person on the tour, and others are now hostage. Joe unwillingly finds himself back into the world of espionage. He knows how the game is played and escapes to get back to Laura.
The killer (Colter) won’t stop until he finds “American Joe” (as he now refers to him) who, he assumes, has the object he seeks. What is on said object is unknown, but various conversations among CIA staff point to the DEA. Then they suddenly want in on the investigation in Europe. The CIA boss, Ronald Burbridge (D.W. Moffett), asks a former spy/killer, Chester (Sylvester Stallone), to take the lead to eliminate Joe (known as Archie in his former job). The CIA is not sure if “Archie” has been or is now an Alarum agent. Chester and Archie are friendly toward each other, but that does not include trusting each other.
Plenty of bullets, hand-to-hand combat, strong language, and violence resulted in the R rating. Alarum is available on Digital and On Demand as of January 17, 2025.
Source: Lionsgate