Having lent her name to five installments of the Underworld franchise, the disappointing Total Recall remake, the overstuffed and undercooked Van Helsing, and many more besides, nobody’s going to question Kate Beckinsale’s action hero chops.
The actress has proven countless times over that she can kick ass with the very best of them, but she definitely needs to find better movies with which to display her undoubted penchant for running, gunning, punching, kicking, stabbing, and everything in between.
A notable case in point is last year’s Jolt, which boasted a fiercely committed central performance from Beckinsale, not to mention one hell of a ridiculous high concept, but failed to maximize the potential of an unhinged premise. The star plays a woman suffering from an intermittent explosive disorder, which leaves her prone to violent and dangerous outbursts.
To combat her condition, she wears a vest that gives her electric shocks when she’s close to losing control. However, once her friend his murdered, the gloves come off as a rampage of revenge begins. If that sounds silly, it very much is, but Jolt is nowhere near as fun or entertaining as it should have been.
Despite being a Prime Video original, Tanya Wexler’s anarchic romp has been making a splash on HBO Max this week per FlixPatrol, where it’s charted on the platform’s global rankings after being added to the library in multiple international markets.
A 40% Rotten Tomatoes score and 37% user rating isn’t the most encouraging response, but subscribers are evidently happy to turn their brains off for a breezy 90-minute actioner that delivers the bare minimum you’d expect.
