If The Mother was released 30 years ago, it would have been a clear stand-out in the film library of your mind.
But after Liam Neeson’s cult favorite Taken (2008), followed by a slate of similarly themed
action-thrillers, The Mother has been reduced to so-so Netflix fare.
Released on the giant streaming platform just in time for Mother’s Day, the action-thriller centers on a mysterious but ultra-deadly woman only known as The Mother (Jennifer Lopez).
The movie opens at an FBI safe house in a sleepy Indiana suburb. The Mother is being interrogated by the feds, led by Cruise (Omari Hardwick).
After receiving condescending and doubtful stares, The Mother proves she knows best when she survives — with her DYI savviness — and even saves Cruise. Then, as the safe house explodes, it is revealed that she is very much pregnant.
Who is the father? Well, considering the dangerous world she’s in, it’s definitely not some random handsome dude, but one of her two ex-lovers who happen to be murderous arms dealers, played by Joseph Fiennes and Gael Garcia Bernal. The idea is sort of funny, but you ride along with it.
So The Mother gives birth to a baby girl but has no choice but to hand her daughter who has arms-dealer-assassin genes to the FBI. It is safer that way. Then she hides in a remote, Instagrammable cabin, with her dormant killer skills and perfectly flawless skin. But The Mother won’t retire to a quiet life in the wilderness for too long.
Deadlier than ever
Twelve years after the bloody attack in the FBI safe house, her friend (Paul Raci of The Sound of Metal) tells her that her daughter Zoe (Lucy Paez), now a pre-teen, is in danger.
And so violence ensues. The Mother, protective of the child she gave up more than a decade ago, suddenly becomes a true-blue action heroine, deadlier than ever, just to keep her daughter safe. Yep, don’t mess with Mom when it comes to her offspring.
The action set pieces are decent: hand-to-hand combat, a snowmobile chase, you name it. It does help that the movie, with its semi-stylish moody visuals, features visually pleasing locations: Alaska, Havana and Ohio.
Lopez always has this magical ability to hold your attention toward the end regardless of whether you are enjoying the movie. Here, she showcases decent action moves, but you can’t help but think she’d be better off in serious drama.
She has, for the longest time, exhibited mastery in nuances and depth, which is still very much evident in The Mother’s most quiet, tender moments.
Working from a rather thin script by Misha Green, Andrea Berloff and Peter Craig, female director Niki Caro (she helmed the 2020 live-action version of Disney’s Mulan) delivers action with scant thrills. Without JLo as her star, this would have been relegated to the unvisited corners of the streaming platform. It looks nice, feels overlong and delivers nothing new. But at least it continues to prove JLo’s versatility.
2.5 out of 5 stars
Premiered 12 May on Netflix