There’s one thing so satisfying a couple of good spy thriller, and we’ve seen many cases through the years of spouses being turned in opposition to one another within the title of espionage. That would be the case once more in Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag when it hits the 2025 film calendar, and with this director and a stacked solid, audiences ought to be in for a deal with. Critics have screened the film forward of its March 14 launch, and whereas they agree it’s enjoyable, some are saying it’s forgettable.
Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender star as Kathryn and George Woodhouse, two spies who’re turned in opposition to one another when the previous is believed to have gone rogue. In CinemaBlend’s assessment of Black Bag, Mike Reyes says the movie defied his expectations, and movie-goers are in for enjoyable, video games and a few darkish and witty humor. He offers it 4.5 out of 5 stars, writing:
I completely didn’t count on Black Bag to be as cleverly humorous as it’s, and that’s truthfully my very own fault. Steven Soderbergh is a director that likes to experiment with the road between comedy and drama… I can’t complain about how the steadiness was struck in author David Koepp’s third teaming with the Ocean’s Eleven director. My expectation of a terminally moribund dissection of marriage, belief, and responsibility gave technique to a well-dressed spy story that additionally possesses the wit of that heist film.
Jeremy Mathai of SlashFilm offers it an 8 out of 10, praising Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett for offering a scorching good time in what the critic calls one of many smartest and most laser-focused spy films in current historical past. Mathai continues:
Black Bag stands out as a throwback that truly manages to really feel recent and distinctive on the similar time. Fassbender and Blanchett actually share their justifiable share of scorching chemistry, making it completely plausible that the 2 would do something for the opposite. However theirs is an old-school kind of star energy… I can rely on one hand the variety of films this century — spy, romance, or in any other case — that perceive the true energy of a pair in love. With Fassbender and Blanchett in full management of each scene they’re in, a movie with old style inspirations abruptly comes alive with the sense of favor and modernity that solely Soderbergh can convey.
Siddhant Adlakha of IGN additionally charges Black Bag a “Nice” 8 out of 10, writing that Steven Soderbergh turns “all the fitting screws with impeccable timing” in Black Bag, leading to a “slick, confident, wildly entertaining” spy thriller. The critic says:
Regardless of its mounting problems, it stays way more about its characters and their interpersonal dynamics than the bigger geopolitics at play. These are virtually an afterthought, making room for certainly one of Soderbergh’s most clockwork movies so far: a quick, confident, compact, and delightfully pulpy drama within the physique of one thing slick and prestigious.
David Rooney of THR is barely much less enthused with the ultimate product however agrees the director and his solid give Black Bag a “constantly pleasurable buoyancy,” even when the film is usually forgettable. In Rooney’s phrases:
Following the taut, Hitchcock-meets-De Palma suspense of the tech thriller Kimi and the masterfully shivery ghost story Presence, this third consecutive collaboration between Soderbergh and ace screenwriter David Koepp is a light disappointment. It’s witty, stylishly crafted and boasts a stellar ensemble, led by particularly toothsome work from Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender. It retains you glued, even when the film finally feels evanescent, a slick diversion you overlook quickly after the tip credit have rolled.
Mark Hanson of Slant agrees, giving the movie simply 2 stars out of 5. This type of “cool cucumber” movie is simple for the Ocean’s Eleven director to throw collectively, and that works in opposition to the undertaking, Hanson says. The script exhibits its hand too early, and after its 93-minute runtime, it seems like nothing a lot occurred. The critic continues:
Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag is the type of old style caper that the filmmaker could make in his sleep, and sadly on this case, it feels as if he did simply that. Just like the Ocean’s collection, the movie seeks to pay tribute to a bygone period of style cool… That it finally involves really feel so inconsequential could also be partly by design, however it’s laborious to not want that the newly prolific Soderbergh had woken up a bit to offer the routine plot machinations on this London-set spy yarn the identical spark that he’s delivered to related style throwbacks prior to now.
Solely 29 critics have clocked into Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing, however they appear principally impressed, as Black Bag holds a 90% Contemporary score. It looks as if everybody agrees there’s one thing to get pleasure from on this movie, even when it doesn’t go away the strongest impression as soon as the credit roll. If this appears like one you’d like to take a look at, Black Bag hits theaters on Friday, March 14.