Action movies are not just an American institution.  New from Poland is a martial arts-filled tale of familial distress which causes one woman to rampage her way across a dark city just like a young Jackie Chan or Steven Seagal would.  And since the dialogue (dubbed) is about at the same level as a Seagal adventure, the result is about the same.

Mateusz Rakowicz’s film occurs somewhere in Poland I believe — it may be specified but if so I have already forgotten — where a lonely woman named Nina (Agnieszka Grochowska) lives only for the teenage son she can only watch from afar; young Maks (Adrian Delikta) lives with his father and stepmother and doesn’t even know his mother.  But when Mars is kidnapped who goes after him?  Nina, the ex-NATO officer, using anything she can lay her hands on to rescue him.  Along the way she regains much of the life-force that has slowly drained away from her, and she finally confronts her past (and present) mistakes.

Aside from the blunt, clumsy dubbing which I think removes some of the film’s designed nuance, the story suffers a bit from the dreariness of its urban locations, the mostly night-time action scenes and, ultimately, the formulaic plotting which renders the film more familiar than it needs to be.  What works is Nina’s predicament; her toughness and resilience, not to mention her abilities to both dish out and receive physical punishment, are certainly impressive.  Hollywood’s action stars have been muscular and grim; Miss Grochowska is certainly grim but her agility and grace and improvisational use of household items for deadly purpose are perhaps more interesting to watch, from my point of view.

This is no worse, but also no better, than most action films being made today.  It’s intriguing to put a woman at the center of such mayhem, but recent Hollywood films have done the same with Allison Janney, Elsa Pataki, Olga Kurylenko, Jennifer Garner and others.  Women are kicking butt just like the men.  Now hopefully the scripts can be improved so that their movies can be as good, or even superior.  ☆ ☆.  6 July 2023.