Destroyer Review

January 25, 2019 at 8:31pm
By Jason Stettner

Destroyer directly follows a grizzled cop that's having a rough time, things in life aren't great. Erin (Nicole Kidman) is just trying to keep going and something from her past comes back into the picture, requiring her full attention. Being the core lead, she really does have a grand transformation and performance here. There's a neat mix in this film as you see her in the modern times as an aged detective and then in the past during a secretive undercover mission.

This is a tale focused on bank robberies, and those involved with it. She's certainly hurting throughout which is clear and it ends on a rather intense note for sure. Getting to that point is a bit slow however as the pacing could have been better. It drags at parts, with a sequence of almost seemingly random events. There's a nice tie off for everything though, rather clever honestly. It also uses the past quite well and you'll see how that connects over the course of the film.

While the settings were generally simple with some rundown places, they were well shot. It looked good for the most part, especially the ending sequences. The intense combative moments also felt rather tense, especially during shoot outs. The path there could have been quicker however, it does take its time. The past could have also been limited, as this felt almost like two separate movies at points.

There's connections for sure, but a lot to go over considering the moments that need to be involved for both stories to work properly. I will again mention that Nicole Kidman was excellent here and really looked distinct as both versions of herself, the aged one was rather broken which matched the character well. I also liked how grounded things were, pain was distinct and damage could be felt.

The Conclusion

Destroyer delivers on action, a great performance and a rather well connected story. The pacing could have been better, but all the proper dots are connected so I won't complain too much. There was a fair bit of meandering, some of the side narrative had too much attention.

There's a whole daughter thing going on that really isn't given enough of a focus, more or less a distraction. They also threw away direct police involvement of which there would have been considering her initial discussions about individuals coming back into the picture. It was a fine watch, tad long though overall enjoyable if you can handle something that's a bit slower yet does deliver by its ending.

Destroyer Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Screening Provided by Elevation Pictures

Rating Overall: 6.0