Evaluation: 
4/10
Fused:
Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd
Helena Zengel as Johanna Leonberger
Michael Covino as Mark Edgefield
Fred Hechinger as John Calley
Neil Sandilands as Wilhelm Leonberger
Thomas Francis Murphy as Merritt Farley
Mare Winningham as Jane
Elizabeth Marvel as Ella Gannett
Chukwudi Iwuji as Charles Edgefield
Ray McKinnon as Christopher John “CJ” Kidd
Bill Camp as Corey Farley
Co-written and directed by Paul Greengrass; Co-written by Luke Davies
News of the World Review:
The film industry is full of rarities. Sequences that overshadow his predecessor (s), biotics that do not dilute the true story of his themes, but one of the rarest is Tom Hanks starring in a bad movie, and while his last work, World News, it may not be a totally bad movie, it is certainly very disappointing, considering everyone involved.
Based on the eponymous novel by Paulette Jiles, the story takes place five years after the end of the Civil War and centers on Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks), a veteran of three wars, who moves from city to city as a non-accountant of fictional stories, sharing the news of presidents and queens, glorious feuds, devastating catastrophes and thrilling adventures from across the globe. On the Texas plains, he runs into Johanna (Helena Zengel), a 10-year-old girl who was welcomed by the Kiowa people six years earlier and raised as one of her own. Johanna, hostile to a world she has never experienced, is being returned to her biological aunt and uncle against her will. Kidd agrees to deliver the child where the law says he belongs. As they travel hundreds of kilometers in the unforgiving jungle, the two will face tremendous challenges from human and natural forces as they search for a place they can call home.
The film’s story offers many unique angles not previously explored in the Western genre, from its specific period to the fact that its protagonist was actually on the side of the Confederates during the Civil War, but it often seems that it does not get the most out of these elements. or use them in very credible ways. The inhabitants of some of the cities that Kidd and Johanna visit are simply stingy and hostile, but despite the location and the time, they feel really diluted. There is little or no feeling of hatred spat out of their mouths towards native or African-Americans, the worst being a settlement leader trying to claim that he managed to solve the racial problems in his area by dominating with his white platoon and a group of men trying to to steal Johanna to become a sex worker.
The last point may seem disgusting, and it sure is, but the writing makes everything look very bland and very sure of an approach to the subjects it presents that often looks like it wants to be a Western of similar Oscar-worthy proportions to True Grit and 3:10 to Yuma. It is also these clear aspirations that prevent the film from taking off, with the pace never really progressing and the story often proving too predictable to be attractive. The film really only sees two areas where things become interesting to watch, a chase scene between sex slave bandits (not their real names, but what can we call them, actually) and the final 30 minutes or so where we finally learn a little bit of the story of why Kidd struggled to stay on the road and never come home again.
Although generally known for unstable camera work by Bourne franchise and another Hanks star Captain Phillips, co-writer / director Paul Greengrass shows a better adherence, both literally and figuratively, in properly combining more stable camera work with the most unstable moments, most notably in the impasse between the said bandits and Kidd and Johanna. It is a very well-filmed and well-executed action that explores some of the best arguments of the western shootings, while offering some unique twists and turns in how they normally unfold.
Despite all these problems, one would expect at least another great performance from his two-time Oscar-winning star, but unfortunately even Hanks was quite disappointing in the film. When the moment demanded, he was quite warm and charming, as is natural for him, but the rest of the film really seems like he is following the movements and more disconnected from the material than some of the weaker films he at least shone.
It is by no means a bad performance, as the final part of the film opens up for him to show the dramatic features that usually make him a marvel to watch, but given Hanks’ overall consistency for greatness, it is disappointingly basic, much like the film as a whole. There are certainly worse westerns to avoid, but there is certainly a better one to visit before resorting to World News.