Shadow Force

by Mike McGranaghan

Once upon a time, a new Joe Carnahan movie would have been a big deal. The director of Narc, The Grey, and Smokin’ Aces has established a reputation for stylish, fast-paced action fare. It’s therefore strange that Lionsgate hid his latest effort from critics, especially given that they routinely screen far, far worse films for us. (Already in 2025, the studio screened the abominable Like Father Like Son and Wish You Were Here.) Shadow Force doesn’t quite work, but it’s hardly the disaster a press blackout normally implies.

Kyra (Kerry Washington) and Isaac (Omar Sy) were once members of an elite special forces group. After falling in love and having a child, they decided to go AWOL. The group’s power-hungry leader, Jack Cinder (Mark Strong), has put a bounty on their heads, which the other five members of Shadow Force want to claim. The only way to prevent their 5-year-old son Ky (Jahleel Kamara) from getting put in the crosshairs is to kill Cinder before his team kills them. Giving the couple an assist are two government agents, Auntie (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and Unc (Cliff “Method Man” Smith), working to bring Cinder down.

The performances are the best part of the movie. Sy is an inherently earnest actor; he brings humanity to a character that might otherwise come off as a generic killing machine. Same goes for Washington, who strongly conveys the love Kyra has for Isaac and Ky, and later digs into a scene where she magnificently reads Cinder the riot act. Randolph and Smith provide comic relief, while Strong gives the villain a sarcastic nature that’s funny in a scary way (or, perhaps, scary in a funny way).

Despite the pleasures provided by the cast, Shadow Force suffers from being a “three-quarters movie.” There are some decent fight and chase sequences, but the plot is riddled with cliches, rendering it only three-quarters successful as an action picture. The intensity of the violence clashes with the tenderness being sought by the family aspect, making it only three-quarters successful as a drama. And nothing new is added to the tired concept of a covert special ops group, so it’s only three-quarters successful as a thriller. The film incorporates a lot of familiar elements without blending them all into something that stands apart from the crowd.

What you get, therefore, is a movie that’s pleasant enough to watch yet not one to become overly enthused about. You don’t walk out energized the way you would after, for example, a John Wick entry. At the same time, it’s certainly more entertaining than similar 2025 actioners like Love Hurts and Old Guy. Not great, not terrible.

Shadow Force’s legacy will probably be frequent airings on a cable channel like TNT where viewers will happily pay intermittent attention to it while fiddling with their cell phones.

---