Taylor Sheridan’s Those Who Wish Me Dead opens with a bunch of smoke jumpers in a high-adrenaline skydive into a blazing forest fire. One of them is Hannah Faber (Angelina Jolie), a one-of-the-boys type whose crazy antics get her in trouble with her colleagues, bosses, or even the law. After a tragic failure of judgment which resulted in the deaths of three kids in a fire, she gets demoted to a lonely fire tower post in the middle of the forest, serving as a weather monitor and a lookout on things. Suffering from PTSD, Hannah seems to have given up as shown by her constant disregard for her safety. But luckily, circumstances will lead her to a path of redemption.

Those Who Wish Me Dead marks Angelina Jolie’s return to the action genre after a decade away, and a star of her caliber is just what this movie needs. Her stunning green eyes silently communicate the haunting baggage Hannah is constantly carrying, and Jolie’s commitment to some grueling physicality just adds to her overwhelming charisma. Everything is right in Jolie’s wheelhouse. And yet, she isn’t given much to do of note, given that the main story is really not about her at all despite being the biggest star in the cast. The movie leaps around so much, juggling between two narratives, including a predictable forest fire that’s bound to happen, that things just feel incredibly dull in the end.

Based on novel of the same name by Michael Koryta (who’s also one of the screenwriters), the film’s main plot begins far away from the Montana wilderness. An accountant named Owen (Jake Weber) flees their home in Florida with his son Connor (Finn Little), after learning that the District Attorney has been killed. Owen uncovered some shady political dealings in his work for the DA and now he believes his family are the next targets. And he’s right. On their trail are two relentless hitmen played by Aidan Gillen and Nicholas Hoult, who have no problems cleaning up loose ends no matter what, even resorting to deliberately starting a forest fire. The assassins catch up with the father and son, and successfully kills Owen. Young Connor makes it out alive, and escapes into the Montana woods, desperate to find someone he can trust for help. As fate would have it, he runs into Hannah, and the two pair up in their scramble to survive both the expanding forest fire and the killers in hot pursuit.

There’s an interesting relationship developing between Hannah and Connor that the film scratches upon. Sadly, it jumps between set pieces and other characters so much that almost any significant characterization is cursory at best. I’m usually a fan of Taylor Sheridan’s exploration of his characters’ psyche in the realm of law enforcement, especially in the heat of complex situations. We’ve seen complex character studies in his screenplays for Sicario and Hell or High Water. It’s what gives his writing depth, and that translates to thrilling scenes given the right direction. That’s not to say the action sequences in here are thrilling, they are as tense as Sheridan’s other movies. The scenes involving Ethan (Jon Bernthal) and Allison (Medina Senghore) are full of suspense, and one particular stand-off between Allison and Aidan Gillen’s character is the most memorable action sequence for me, albeit with cheesy dialogue.

While the main narrative is quite simple, Those Who Wish Me Dead benefits from Sheridan’s love for incorporating landscapes and the location into the story. In Wind River, Sheridan’s directorial debut, the snowy blizzards of Wyoming is as much as a character as its leads, just like how the blazing wildfire and the forests of Montana are big players here. Cinematographer Ben Richardson treat the natural surroundings with wonder, and it lends to the overall tension of the story.

Those Who Wish Me Dead is an adrenaline ride, elevated by Angelina Jolie’s presence. Yet, it’s not enough to carry the whole film. I really wish the film could’ve explored the smoke jumper culture even further, given that it’s a big part of Hannah’s life. Unfortunately, that takes a backseat to make way for a typical crime narrative, ending with flashy yet predictable conclusion. By the time the smoke clears in the end, nothing really matters anymore. As a last note, I truly believe Jon Bernthal should be in more movies. He’s shown enough grit and moxie in this film that he can be a lead in his own right.

Rating: ★★½