At the time of publication, Netflix and Gal Gadot’s «Heart of Stone» is sitting at a disappointing 25 percent rotten critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Looking into the critic reviews themselves, it seems that the film is riddled with issues.
First and foremost, Russ Simmons of KKFI-FM felt the movie lacks originality, writing, «The Netflix spy thriller ‘Heart of Stone’ seems like it was cobbled together from ideas that were rejected for a James Bond script.» Midwest Film Journal’s Nick Rogers also found the film immensely derivative and its story to be overcomplicated. As for Peter A. Martin of Dallas Film Now, he highlighted that the action wasn’t particularly engaging. «Director Tom Harper is unable to meet the challenge of making the action sequences come alive by dramatic means,» he wrote.
In addition to mentioning how unoriginal and uninteresting the story is, Clayton Dillard of Slant Magazine noted that, for a film titled «Heart of Stone,» it doesn’t inspire any real emotional reactions from viewers. Speaking of lacking in emotion, Nick Schager of The Daily Beast thought Gadot’s performance was rather flat as she tried to navigate weak dialogue. Despite the fact that they feel «Heart of Stone» is mediocre, A.V. Club’s Courtney Howard wonders if the feature could have a resurgence down the road. After all, if the Chris Hemsworth-led Netflix effort «Extraction» can find an audience and earn a sequel, perhaps «Heart of Stone» can do the same.
«Heart of Stone» premieres on Netflix on August 11.