A newly released review finds that Shadow Force, the Joe Carnahan–directed spy thriller now streaming on Starz, squanders its cast and set-piece potential with a tangled screenplay and familiar genre clichés.
In a Sept. 7 review for Decider, critic John Serba called the film a largely unsatisfying effort and urged viewers to "skip it," saying the movie favors relentless action beats and plot complications over coherent storytelling. Serba singled out the film’s title and tonal missteps while noting the likability of leads Kerry Washington and Omar Sy.
Shadow Force centers on Issac (Omar Sy) and Kyrah (Kerry Washington), former members of a covert CIA unit who went off the grid after breaking the agency’s rules by becoming a couple and starting a family. When Issac’s old tradecraft surfaces during a violent public incident, their location is exposed and the agency’s current operatives, led by Mark Strong’s Jack Cinder, are dispatched with a multimillion-dollar bounty to eliminate them. The film layers that premise with globe-trotting sequences set in Colombia, Spain, Florida and Mexico, assorted secondary characters played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Method Man, and a series of action set pieces including a bank shootout, a kitchen brawl and a climactic gunfight.
Serba praised certain elements, writing that Carnahan shows visual flair behind the camera and that Sy, Washington and Strong have the chops to carry larger-than-life action roles. Strong was described as a dependable presence in the villain role. But the review criticized the screenplay — co-written by Carnahan and Leon Chills — for becoming overly complicated within minutes, packing in twists the critic deemed "lame-tryhard," and leaning on sentimental family beats that felt tacked on rather than earned.
The critique singled out the film’s editing and tonal inconsistencies, saying action sequences at times resembled pastiches of better-executed genre films without generating real tension. Serba compared some chase and combat moments unfavorably to other high-energy action movies and said the film’s final shootout leaves principal characters largely unscathed while lesser characters do not, a choice the critic found narratively unsatisfying.
Carnahan’s filmography has alternated between well-received work and widely panned studio fare, and the review frames Shadow Force as part of that uneven trajectory. Serba referenced the director’s earlier, more praised projects such as The Grey and Copshop alongside entries like The A-Team and Smokin’ Aces to illustrate the split between Carnahan’s stronger and weaker outings.
Shadow Force arrives amid continued audience appetite for off-the-grid spy narratives and mashups of family drama with black-ops action. Serba observed that the film recycles familiar genre mechanics — secret cadres, off-the-grid identities, and high-dollar bounties — but fails to add distinctive stakes or sharper characterization to set it apart. The review also noted recurring tonal quirks, including attempts at humor and pop-culture nods that do not cohere with the movie’s dramatic thrust.
The film is produced for streaming and is now available on Starz. While reviewers and some viewers may find moments of craftsmanship and personable performances, the Decider review concludes that Shadow Force is unlikely to satisfy audiences seeking a tightly written, emotionally grounded spy thriller, recommending that viewers pass on it.