New Apple TV+ movie Ghosted’s combination of Ana de Armas and Chris Evans in a romantic adventure thriller seems like a guaranteed hit, but it certainly hasn’t romanced positive reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. From the first round of reviews, Ghosted has been called out for bad writing, bad chemistry and has even been called the “worst movie of the year” by some.
Ghosted sees de Armas and Evans teaming up again following their appearances together in Knives Out and The Gray Man. Evans plays Cole, who finds himself falling in love on a first date with Sadie (de Armas). When Sadie vanishes Cole jets off to Europe to try and track her down and find out if she is safe. What he discovers is that Sadie is actually a special forces agent, and he is soon caught up in a dangerous conspiracy.
The plot seems very familiar, and it looks like many critics believe it is perhaps a bit too much like other genre offerings of the past such as Romancing The Stone, True Lies and other romantic action thrillers that came long before it. While there are many movies that tread the same path, they can often be helped along by a decent script and well connected lead actors. However, Ghosted looks to be lacking in these departments too.
Movieweb’s Julian Roman’s review of the movie very much agrees with the consensus, and makes particular note of how the movie’s reliance on big name cameos cannot compensate for the movie’s inability to show its leads as a believable couple. He said:
“Ghosted can’t figure out how to make its individually likable leads work as a couple. The premise of a needy farmer accidentally falling for a lethal secret agent had promise. Opposites attract and love blooms while bullets fly. Sounds good on paper, but there needs to be a tangible connection tying the mismatched pair together. The film packs on the star power with a barrage of big name cameos. These scenes are relatively humorous but too fleeting to make a difference.”
How Did Ghosted Fail With Its Big Name Cast?
Movies that are developed for streaming always come with the idea that they were not quite good enough to be given a theatrical release. While that is not strictly true in all cases, it appears that there is something about Ghosted that just couldn’t be saved by its all-star cast.
While it is hard to pin down exactly the pairing of Evans and de Armas has failed to ignite on screen, part of the problem could stem from the role of Sadie being recast when original star Scarlett Johansson was forced to pull out due to a scheduling conflict. However, with so many negative reviews suggesting that the script doesn’t quite work as either a romantic comedy or an action thriller, it probably wouldn’t have made much different to the end result.
For those who would like to still like to spend time with Chris Evans and Ana de Armas, Ghosted is streaming now on Apple TV+.
