Today’s quick review: The Contractor. After an assassination job in London goes wrong, James Dial (Wesley Snipes), a contractor for the CIA, takes shelter in a safe house left by his dead partner. Hemmed in by the police and hunted by his former boss Jeremy Collins (Ralph Brown), Dial looks for a safe way to leave town. But to do so, he will need the help of Emily Day (Eliza Bennett), the trouble-making teenage girl who lives next door.
The Contractor is an action thriller starring Wesley Snipes. After a botched getaway, an American assassin resorts to desperate measures to get to safety. The Contractor features a decent premise for an action thriller but fails to execute on it. Minimal character development, a static plot, mediocre action scenes, and disorienting camerawork squander the movie’s potential, leaving it a weak pick for anyone but dedicated Snipes fans.
Nearly all of The Contractor’s issues stem from a lack of passion. Instead of taking the audience into Dial’s world of black ops and questionable morality, the movie opts for a superficial approach. Everything from Collins’ betrayal to Emily’s assistance is poorly motivated, and Snipes himself does not seem to be invested in his performance. Finally, what should be the selling point—the action—falls well short of the competition.
The end result will be a disappointing watch for anyone who goes in with high expectations. Wesley Snipes is far from his best, the characters and story are generic, and the story stagnates as Dial gets pinned down in a safe house with only Emily for company. Still, if you are looking for a formulaic action movie in a 2000s style, The Contractor will hold modest appeal. Just go into it expecting some weaknesses.
For a more entertaining action thriller starring Wesley Snipes, try Art of War. For a sci-fi action comedy that puts Snipes to better use, try Demolition Man. For a better friendship between a killer and a young girl, try The Professional or My Spy. For another action thriller about an assassin, try Killer Elite, The Mechanic, The Gunman, Assassination Games, Assassins, Polar, or John Wick.
[5.5 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0770806/). I give it the same for a generic story and mediocre action.