Director, Martin Campbell returns to the action genre with, Cleaner. Daisy Ridley stars as Joey Locke, a window cleaner with a murky military past that comes in handy when the building she is cleaning is taken over by a terrorist organization. Joey could evade the situation but her brother being in the building as well pushed Joey to get involved and try to handle the situation which gives us this newer (less christmasy) Die Hard. How much can she actually accomplish hanging outside hundreds of feet in the air? Don’t ask questions like that when you are dealing with such a badass like Daisy Ridley.
Clive Owen is the head of the eco-terrorist organization that invaded the tower in an attempt to bring awareness to climate change. The event that they sabotage is The extreme eco-terrorist angle is not new but it is handled well in this story by adding tension within the organization that is not as organized as it is first made out to be. This is due to Taz Skylar’s character, Noah who is a complete curve ball to the organization. Although I do not think he has nearly the same presence as Clive Owen, his chaotic performance allows for a bit of unorthodox Villainy.
Cleaner is basically a female Jason Statham movie where an ex- military operative is working a mundane job and must flex their military skills in order to save the day. Thankfully, Daisy Ridley's attitude and Snarkiness help elevate the film beyond some mundane action film. It is great to see her back in an action role and flexing her range.
I did hope there would be more action and fight sequences but the few major ones in the third act were all well-choreographed and unique to the location's environment. If you are a fan of action films or Daisy Ridley, Cleaner is worth your time but don’t get hung on the similarities to Die Hard, just be happy Daisy Ridley is back.
3/5
Review by: Stefano Bove