Hail Mary: Review. By Alif Majeed.

I read a story recently about how Lance Henriksen was supposed to be the original Terminator in that iconic movie. That he was supposed to look like an everyman who could blend in. As intriguing as that would have been, I can’t imagine him replacing Arnold who played him as a rampaging mountain who could not bother to blend in. Now I would have taken both versions of the killing machine archetype over what they portrayed in Hail Mary!, which plays out like a quasi-remake of The Terminator with a lot of religious undertones.

It is pretty straightforward in its plot, which is a modern-day retelling of the Mary and Joseph story. If, during the pregnancy, they were being chased by a killing machine (sent by the devil perhaps?)

The premise is why I started watching the movie in the first place, and maybe I was expecting too much after reading the synopsis, but I was a little disappointed when it didn’t end up being the overblown B-Movie action fest I thought it would be in my head.

A lot of the disappointment had to do with the portrayal of Baal, the agent of chaos sent to kill the child. Jack Huston, who is a pretty exciting actor felt out of place here. He might have been trying to project an air of mystery but he just comes across as indifferent and bored. I was almost half expecting him to channel Nicolas Cage from the Ghost Rider movies with his now legendary manic energy and screen presence. When it comes down to it, maybe I would have preferred him to have fun with the role as it deserves some fun. I also didn’t get a clear sense of his powers or why was he after the couple.

What was also off was the pacing as it is a road chase movie but you don’t get a sense of urgency. I was surprised to know Hail Mary was directed by Rosemary Rodriguez, who has done some lovely work on television which I enjoyed. I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if they got a bigger budget.

It also made me wonder what would have happened if someone like Seth Rogen, who it seems gets to play with any pop culture property, had a go at it. He was involved with Preacher after all (a show that feels like a startlingly airy cousin of Hail Mary.

Considering “Hail Mary” is supposed to be a genre-bending retelling of the Mary and Joseph story, it doesn’t hold your interest after the initial promise of the premise dies down.

I realize that many of the issues I had with the movie stem from the fact that it was not the movie I expected to play out when I started watching it. Maybe if you manage your exceptions, you might just be able to see it in a different light than I did.

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