Released: 19th June 2020 (Netflix)
Length: 123 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Director: Oliver Assayas
Starring: Penélope Cruz Édgar Ramírez, Gael García Berna Ana de Armas Wagner Moura
Cuba’s history has been rife with major events and conflicts, a setting carefully exploited by Cold War thrillers and other productions through the years. The latest effort, Wasp Network, picks the nation up at the turn of the nineties. While the story it has to tell seems intriguing at first, it will struggle to maintain your interest.
In 1990, Cuban pilot Rene Gonzalez (Edgar Ramirez) leaves defects from his homeland to try and forge a better life for his family. Leaving his wife Olga (Penelope Cruz) and daughter Irma (Osdeymi Pastrana Miranda) behind, he finds himself falling in with a group known as Brothers to the Rescue, led by Gerardo Hernandez (Gael García Bernal). This organisation assisted other Cubans in escaping the country while also conducting terrorist activities in a bid to sabotage the Castro government. Believing it would collapse at the end of the Cold War, we cut back and forth between various characters as they look to disrupt and build opportunity for themselves around Miami. At first, you’ll appreciate the film’s commitment to realism, portraying real life events with a moderately skilled hand, but things start to become muddled the deeper things go. The plot’s biggest issue is that it isn’t quite sure who to focus on; we bounce around a few different characters throughout the runtime and when they’re no longer useful to the story, they simply exit stage right, never to be heard from again. This dilutes the film’s ability to engage as you’re not able to get fully invested in a defined protaganist or viewpoint. On top of this, the film also omits to show the other side of the proceedings, specifically what Cuba’s communist regime was doing while the hidden network was making the rounds. Including this point of view would have deepened the narrative while also heightening the true story focus Wasp Network clings on to. As it inches towards a conclusion, there isn’t much build-up to what happens with the characters, making for a muted final act.
With the film begging for a more concise viewpoint to follow, the actors find themselves having to make the best of some limited material; no member of the cast gives an especially bad performance but their roles in the story can feel rather shallow in places. Edgar Ramirez and Penelope Cruz do well enough in their leading performances, showing the closeness of the family and their desire for a better life. But they end up feeling short-changed by the creative choices, which often pulls the action away from their motives. When they start to be spied upon by American authorities, the sense of tension is unable to escalate. The biggest missed opportunity here is Wagner Moura as Juan Pablo Roque, a more upper resident Miami resident who appears mainly to quarrel with his partner Ana Magarita Martínez (Ana de Armas) and occasionally chip into discussions. That’s something that can be said for most of the film; it’s very heavy on dialogue and again, there’s some mild interest stirred up in the moment, but it doesn’t reach its full potential. On the other hand, the film’s use of real life figures does contribute well to the believability of the action; it’s too bad the cast is unable to accomplish the same.
Authenticity is a trait that carries through into the film’s technical detail; Wasp Network best shows this through its portrayal of Cuban culture; whether it’s a lavish wedding ceremony or the close bonds between families, the sense of place is always on display. While the camerawork remains mostly static throughout the film, the highlight of the presentation is a depiction of a 1996 air engagement. With the Cuban military shooting down several unarmed planes; the use of wide, sweeping shots and the right angles for the different aircraft types makes this scene in particular feel especially risky and dangerous, showing the ruthlessness of Cuba’s regime far better than the plot. The music by Eduardo Cruz is equally strong, getting across the unique songs that stem from the nation and layering them across the narrative well enough.
Wasp Network shows some glimpses of quality and its authenticity is strong, but thanks to its mixed perspectives, slower pace and lack of background detail, it doesn’t match the better adaptations it aspires to replicate. At best it offers a mildly intriguing if ineffectual glimpse into Cuba in the nineties, but it won’t go beyond that basic achievement.
Rating: 3/5 Stars (Fair)
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