My quick rating – 4.8/10. Shadow Force wants to be a high-stakes, family-driven action thriller, but it often stumbles under the weight of its own contradictions. While the film stars the talented Kerry Washington and Omar Sy as former elite operatives turned fugitives, the story doesn’t give them enough grounded material to make me believe in their so-called legend status. Instead, we’re handed a middling mix of sentimentality, spectacle, and logic-defying decisions.
Washington’s Kyrah and Sy’s Isaac were once the leaders of a covert multinational special forces team known as Shadow Force. Their love, forbidden by the organization, led them to defect and go underground to protect their young son. Years later, with a price on their heads and their former allies turned enemies in pursuit, the family is forced back into action. On paper, this has the potential for an emotionally charged, action-packed ride. In execution, it’s far more uneven.
Take for instance one of the most glaring examples of style over sense—a pop-up hatch in Kyrah’s car roof designed for a gunner. She’s been operating solo for years, so the addition makes no practical sense outside of giving us a cool action beat. The problem is that these beats often come at the expense of logic. Another head-scratcher: shooting a grenade to make it explode. It’s flashy, sure, but anyone with a basic understanding of explosives would tell you it’s wildly unrealistic and only barely possible under extremely specific conditions. These kinds of moments pulled me out of the story rather than drawing me in.
And then there’s the odd way the film handles its protagonists. For supposed elite fighters, Isaac and Kyrah spend a surprising amount of time getting their asses handed to them. Rather than showcasing their superiority, the repeated beatings they take undermine the idea that they’re the best of the best. It’s hard to root for heroes who seem constantly outmatched.
What Shadow Force does get right is its casting. Washington and Sy are both charismatic and capable of delivering strong performances, even when the script doesn’t always help them. The standout, though, is Da’Vine Joy Randolph as “Auntie.” She provides the comic relief this movie desperately needs, effortlessly lightening the tone when it threatens to drown in its own seriousness.
Action-wise, the choreography is passable, with a few sequences that manage to be engaging, though the film takes a while to get there. It’s a slow starter, and even once the ball gets rolling, there are long stretches of family talk, scenes centered around bonding over music, heartfelt speeches, and motivational chats about the mission. While intended to ground the story emotionally, these moments eventually start to feel repetitive and drag down the pacing.
Ultimately, Shadow Force feels like a movie at war with itself—torn between being a gritty action piece and a heartfelt family drama, yet never excelling at either. It’s entertaining enough for a one-time watch, mostly thanks to the cast and a few decent action scenes. But it’s not the kind of film that lingers in your memory. For all its firepower, Shadow Force never truly hits its mark.
Amazon and several other streamers have this for theater pricing at home.