Alarum
review by Bobby Blakey

There is no denying that Sylvester Stallone is one of the biggest action stars of all time. These days he has toned it down a notch and doing some of his best work currently on the Paramount+ series Tulsa King. Clearly, he is still ready to bring some action with his latest film Alarum starring Scott Eastwood, Willa Fitzgerald, Mike Colter, Isis Valverde and Joel Cohen from Force of Nature and Terror on the Prairie director Michael Polish at the helm. Could this film bring the action fans love or will it
Alarum follows two married spies caught in the crosshairs of an international intelligence network that will stop at nothing to obtain a critical asset. Joe and Lara are agents living off the grid whose quiet retreat at a winter resort is blown to shreds when members of the old guard suspect the two may have joined an elite team of rogue spies, known as Alarum.
I always go into these films with low expectations since they are more often than not in and out cameos with a film that never brings much to the table. This one doesn’t bring just the cameo aspect with Stallone in the film for a good amount, but most of the time he is in the scenes alone which means he likely shot them alone and in a short time. There are a few moments with him and Eastwood, but it is clearly not a long time on set for Sly and it shows. He is fine here, but not really given much to do.
Eastwood is fine in the role but just doesn’t scream action star to me. I know he has done other things in this vein, but it just falls flat most of the time. He works with what he is given, but it’s not all that much. I will say Colter looks to be having a good time in the role despite it being cheesy. The whole film is all over the place, which is strange since it is such a simple concept. It tries to be bigger than it is but never manages to get out of the forgettable generic tone.
There is plenty of action throughout but nothing you haven’t seen before and likely hindered by its lower budget. They try to amp things up a couple of times, but often it doesn’t even get to the quality that some TV shows are delivering. I appreciate the effort, but it just never digs itself out of the plainness of it all. Even some of the sets felt like they just found a room and started shooting with no effort.
Despite it’s less than stellar execution it’s hard not to give it a chance just to see Stallone in action. It even lends itself to an ending that could spell sequel, but can’t imagine that it’s coming anytime soon, but you never know.
Decide for yourself and check out Alarum in theaters, digital and On Demand now from Lionsgate.