“Shadow Force” (2025) refers to a high-level termination unit of the CIA that has no retirement plan, so Kyrah Owens (Kerry Washington) and Issac Sarr (Omar Sy) made their own. Jack Cinder (Mark Strong), their former recruiter, is determined to bring them back in and is willing to use their son, Ky Sarr (Jahleel Kamara), to get them. Will they find a way to stay together without looking behind their backs?
The primary characters are father and son, which is adorable, and Sy and Kamara have a realistically grounded dynamic. Kids need routine so Issac is a stay-at-home dad while mom stays in the field. It felt as if “Shadow Force” was going to hint at the quotidian indignities that Issac faces to raise a kid, including Miami River Bank’s fees that he cannot afford, but that routine never gets fleshed out before danger comes knocking, and their cover is blown.
Does director and cowriter Joe Carnahan show moviegoers how Issac handily dispatches that danger? In fits and starts or from a distance using security surveillance video. A lot of the action demands that people use their imagination, and while a limited budget means less to play with, it also is not an excuse to not strengthen the story to write more modest fight scenes that can be executed without constantly turning away or obscuring the action. There is the implication of awesome fighting, but nothing satisfying or cathartic. In the denouement, all the characters get split up but somehow know where to reassemble then depart without crossing a foe until they are back together.
Washington, who always looks fabulous, is the big star of “Shadow Force” and has limited experience in action apart from “Scandal.” It is easy to imagine a parallel universe where Kyrah is related to Olivia Pope’s mom, Maya Lewis (Khandi Alexander), and Kyrah is determined to not end up like Maya, but is still stuck on the same path. There is a scene where Kyrah and Sy have a physical disagreement, which does not work even if she is trying to get him prepared for the big confrontation. “Black Bag” (2025) is now the definitive spies-in-love movie, and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (2005), which Washington was also in, is just a fantasy rationale to excuse spousal abuse. People who love each other should not want to keep their hands, not fists, off each other. Because Washington and Sy are hot, a waiver can be signed to make them a credible couple, but the chemistry is not there. Washington and Kamara have zero problem seeming like mother and son.
Kamara is a cute kid and is the glue that holds “Shadow Force” together. No one wants to see anything bad happen to him, and even the villain, Cinder, would rather recruit than kill him. It is almost as if all the characters had an unspoken rule to never hurt the kid or do anything bad in front of him, which sucked the tension out of the movie. In one scene, a character tells him to go around the corner and wait to shield his innocent eyes, which immediately makes one think that he would walk into the arms of someone who wants him dead. Absolutely not. Also, the movie eats up a lot of time dwelling on his antics, which includes singing Lionel Ritchie, a lot of Lionel Ritchie. It is one thing to expect a child in an action movie, but quite another for him to dominate it, which was a drawback.
Auntie (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and Unc (Method Man) are probably the best part of “Shadow Force.” Though they were spies, they stuck out like a sore thumb, but because they are Black and an older couple, no one would think that they were spies so it works. Randolph got to throw hands and did one of those Schwarzenegger one arm pump the shot gun deals, and that is the most credible, uncut, unobscured action in “Shadow Force.” If there is a sequel, just let it focus on Randolph. If an Oscar award winning actor is going to be in a mid-action movie, let her be the star!
“Shadow Force” had a villain problem. The former team members do not have names mentioned on screen and are not differentiated but are supposed to be angry enough at Kyrah and Issac to gun for them. The $100,000,000 bounty is enough of an incentive, but it is also supposed to be personal. There needed to be a couple of flashbacks showing their former bond and why they felt betrayed because by the denouement, it felt as if they should have all wanted to walk away and not be bothered. It was a missed opportunity to not display Marvin Jones III’s strength and scene-chewing style, an actor who played a memorable Big Bad from “Black Lightning.” Jénel Stevens, who played one of the blonde assassins, looked like she could fight when she did. The unspoken conversation between the villains and the heroes was the best part of the denouement, especially the physical complement movement between actors Natalia Reyes and Yoson An’s characters.
Jack’s motivation was clear in the story though this performance is not one of Strong’s strongest and did not support it. Jack did not seem comfortable reuniting with his old team, and they are not dumb so they would notice his bonhomie was fake. His scenes with Washington felt rote. Paging Tony Goldwyn! Goldwyn would know how to play a possessive, controlling guy allegedly obsessed with Kyrah. Strong gave her character the same energy that he did with every character: a tightly coiled man ready to bark in frustration. Strong seemed to rely more on Jack’s chip on his shoulder that success was making him miss a step and had the best line, “Come on man, suck it up, you’ve had blood in your mouth. What’s the big deal?” Maybe a lot of scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, which was disappointing, and this was more subtle and interesting than his obsession with the couple, which worked on a historical level as a thinly veiled allusion to slavery.
Two of Jack’s henchmen, Patrick (Marshall Cook) and Parker (Ed Quinn), would be forgettable if Quinn did not have such a strong presence. With the least amount of lines in “Shadow Force,” Quinn imbues his laconic character with so much main character energy that it is likely that most moviegoers were waiting for the other shoe to drop. While the script delivers a slipper, not a shoe, it is not Quinn’s fault, and he had great chemistry with all his scene partners. It would be nice to see him deliver the promise of another spy relationship if there is a sequel.
“Shadow Force” is a great concept of a movie but is not developed enough to satisfy. So if you are looking for action, an original story, three-dimensional characters, solid romantic chemistry, this movie is not for you, but if you want adorable parent child action, lots of Lionel Ritchie and to look at hot Black people, go for it. Side, related note: please watch the low budget, but far more satisfying “Black Heat” (2024). It is a perfect example of how to get the most bang for your buck instead of trying to go big then falling flat. Commercial, mainstream films need to learn from independent films so they can maximize their assets instead of shortchanging the talent.
“Shadow Force” was released in theaters on May 9, 2025.
