72 Hours (2024) || When Action Trips Over Its Own Shoelaces

 Nothing pisses me off more than picking a film to watch, expecting a gritty, tense action thriller but instead, it ends up being something that feels like Peter Griffin’s guilty pleasure. All hot chics, no real suspense. ****  This film follows two brothers, Sebastian, a veteran FBI agent, and Alex, who works as a money launderer for a cartel-kingpin named Tye Revello. When Sebastian is tracking a crypto money laundering deal gone wrong, he discovers Alex is involved. Before Sebastian can stop him, Alex flees. Soon after, Christina, Alex’s daughter, is kidnapped by Tye. The cartel gives Alex 72 hours to return a hard drive or face deadly consequences. Alex and Sebastian set aside their differences and assemble a small team (a mechanic, a gambler, a mercenary) to rescue Christina and maybe have to keep the hard drive. ****  **It Should’ve Done Better If the Director Really Paid Attention to the Script** While the basic setup of this film had potential with the kidnapping, ticking-clock and family betrayal, the execution left a lot to be desired.  There are key flaws like characters not acting with believable fear. There is an infuriating lack of urgency in response to grave threats, weak performances from supposed law-enforcement agents, and missing emotional reactions (e.g. the hostage not convincingly scared, the villains behaving inconsistently) all betray a script that needed tighter direction. If the director had really focused on building consistent tension, made characters act true to their situations, and leaned more into the emotional cost of the events (not just the action), **72 Hours** might’ve been something more than a disappointing flick.  When your daughter is taken hostage, panic isn’t something you just switch off. But Alex didn’t seem convincingly frantic after the abduction. His brother was equally flat, and don’t get me started on the FBI agents, they were so lacking in presence and competence that it was hard to believe they were meant to represent federal intelligence. Where were the smarts, the strategy, the energy?  Even Christina, the hostage at the center of the storm, couldn’t sell the fear. Imagine being kidnapped by a cartel leader and not showing a shred of believable terror. And the way the villains handled her? When it came time to exchange the flash drive, the cartel leader should have used her as bait, the classic knife-to-throat or gun to head, shove-to-terrify move, but instead, he left her in a corner with his pawn of a girlfriend. That girlfriend was written like a weakling, tasked with watching Christina but doing it so poorly that Christina could’ve easily escaped. Her hands were tied with zip tie restraints, and when the men left, she just… stood there. Uggh! No attempt, no urgency, nothing.  The pacing was another issue. The movie barely thrilled me, except for about ten minutes toward the very end. And honestly, if your best work comes that late, you’ve already lost the audience. Rating: 4.2/10 It had a spark of potential, but the execution left me frustrated more than entertained.  **Who Should Watch This?** If you’re the type who can overlook sloppy plotting, bland characters, and logic gaps just to enjoy some surface-level action and a parade of attractive faces, maybe you’ll find something here. But if you value believable tension, smart villains, or even the faintest sense of FBI competence, skip it.