Rami Malek’s Hacker-Turned-Hitman Act Almost Works In ‘The Amateur’ – Almost [Review]
But, you don’t need to be a pro to get the job done!
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The Amateur is a moderate-paced revenge thriller helmed by British TV veteran James Hawes, whose past credits include Doctor Who, Black Mirror, and Slow Horses. This time, he steps into feature film territory with a story that’s equal parts spy thriller and personal vendetta.
Rami Malek stars as Charles Heller, a bespectacled CIA code analyst whose life is shattered when his wife is killed in a terrorist attack in London. When the investigation stalls and a sinister cover-up begins to take shape, Heller does what any emotionally frayed desk jockey would do: he blackmails his superiors into training him as a killer so he can take justice into his own hands.
The Agency, clearly amused by his delusion but wary of his threats to expose a disastrous black ops mission (involving a drone strike that wiped out 1,000 civilians), decides to humor him.
He’s handed off to a weary CIA veteran, Colonel Robert Henderson (played with trademark gravitas by Laurence Fishburne), who delivers the inevitable “you’re not a killer” line with just the right mix of pity and disbelief.
The film breezes through Charlie’s transformation from analyst to assassin with montage-level speed, almost self-consciously aware that this isn’t a training film – it’s a fantasy, and the cracks show.
One standout moment – a clever, low-stakes lock-picking scene where Charlie learns the ropes from an online tutorial – briefly hints at the film The Amateur might have been. A bumbling, DIY revenge story with an awkward everyman protagonist learning on the fly? That would’ve been fresh. But alas, that tone is largely abandoned, and we return to a more generic revenge thriller mode.
Malek leans into his signature brand of tightly wound intensity. His bugged-out stare and barely contained rage work well for a man who’s gone from analyzing data to waterboarding terrorists with pollen. There’s a flash of real menace in that scene – Charlie trapping a suspect in a medical chamber and triggering an asthma attack by unleashing allergens. It’s chilling, effective, and easily his most visceral moment.
But for the most part, his quest for revenge is played with the cerebral detachment of a man solving a math problem. It’s all too controlled, too clean.
And that’s the core issue: while The Amateur isn’t bad, it’s never as gripping or wild as it could be.
The idea of a tech nerd turning into a rogue operative is great on paper – but here, it stays just that, an idea. The film ultimately plays it safe, with genre tropes and expected beats dominating what could have been a deeper, more inventive character study.
As for the premise?
Been there, seen that. The “dead wife” revenge setup is worn-out territory, the emotional shorthand for motivating men into mayhem. It’s a narrative device so old it practically creaks, and the film doesn’t do much to rework or subvert it.
This was a golden opportunity to tap into the side of Rami Malek that truly shines – his anxiety-ridden, morally compromised persona from Mr. Robot. That version of Malek, operating somewhere between genius and breakdown, could’ve made this film electric.
Still, despite its predictability, The Amateur is a consistently entertaining watch.
It never drags, and there’s enough spy-thriller tension and cool-headed violence to keep you invested for the full two hours. It’s not a genre-redefining thriller, but if you’re in the mood for a tightly wrapped tale of vengeance with a dash of tech paranoia and a strong lead performance, it gets the job done.
Just don’t expect it to blow your mind – or break any new ground.
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