Review: It’s the desert landscape of Qom, Iran, where an MI6 agent Tom Harris (Gerard Butler), plants explosives in a nuclear research facility. As his mission, commissioned by the CIA, succeeds, he intends to catch a flight to London Gatwick for his daughter’s graduation. But his handler, Roman Chalmers (Travis Fimmel), lures him into one last gig in Herat, Afghanistan. After the global media blows Tom’s cover, an Iranian hound and the Taliban try to capture him. That’s not the end of peril for him. ISIS wants to catch and sell him on the market to the highest bidder and sends a Pakistani agent, Kahil Nasir (Ali Fazal), for the job. Tom aims to reach the extraction point in Kandahar to fly back home.
With all these dreaded agencies in hot pursuit in the stark land should mean edge-of-the-seat thrill and, with the geopolitical backdrop, some intense drama to keep you hooked. But writer Mitchelle LaFortune and director Ric Roman Waugh serve a tepid dish that often drags. They try to fuse into the narrative the futility of war, young children being brainwashed by extremists and the cause of women, but the disjointed subplots fail to do justice to any of these.
The good parts are when the characters look inward and question their actions. The pangs of guilt are palpable on Iranian emissary Farhad Asadi’s (Bahador Foladi) face whenever he resorts to violence. Kahil schools a Taliban member about the atrocities on women and advises a young boy to read the Quran and find out if the holy book teaches what’s been passed down. Tom also confesses to his translator Mohammad “Mo” (Navid Negahban) that agents from the West are too keen on telling the locals who risk their lives the culture they should follow and the lives they should lead. All these leaders, in their own right, are tired of the violence. However, the chase-to-safety track prevents a good thought from being explored deeply.
The austere Afghani and Iranian worlds are depicted well, and the set-up is authentic, with the warring terrorist groups, fascist regimes, warlords, whistleblowers, and a kidnapped British journalist and whatnot. But that also seems like a lot has been packed into the story, with tropes such as a spy estranged from his wife because he loves his work too much. Mo returns from the US to find his missing sister-in-law, but the mission gets sidelined, and it would have added more meat to the narrative here. Props to cinematographer Miguel ‘MacGregor’ Olaso for a tight grip on the various elements and effectively capturing the harshness, drama, and action—especially a chase in the dead of night with night vision glasses, et al.
As the jaded agent, Gerard Butler performs well, but he has done better work in other outings with a similar premise. Navid Negahban delivers an outstanding performance as a father who loses his son to an attack by a warlord and who knows the value of family. Ali Fazal oozes confidence and does well as the enigmatic man on a motorbike who drills sense into wayward extremists and wants to leave the harsh desert behind. It would have been great to see him in action instead of trying to acquire the target, Tom Harris.
Overall, Kandahar is lacklustre and average in terms of the storyline. The authentic milieu created and the intent of conveying the futility of war and saying no to fascism may appeal to the viewer.
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