The Misfits | |
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Directed by | Renny Harlin |
Screenplay by |
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Story by | Robert Henny |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Denis Alarcón Ramírez |
Edited by | Colleen Rafferty |
Music by |
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Production companies |
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Distributed by | The Avenue Entertainment |
Release dates |
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Running time | 94 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $15 million [1] |
Box office | $1.6 million [2] |
The Misfits is a 2021 American heist action film directed by Renny Harlin and written by Robert Henny and Kurt Wimmer. The film stars Pierce Brosnan, Rami Jaber, Hermione Corfield, Jamie Chung, Mike Angelo, Tim Roth, Nick Cannon, and Qais Qandil.
It was released in South Korea on June 3, 2021, and was released in the United States on June 11, 2021, by The Avenue Entertainment. The film was a box-office bomb and received negative reviews, receiving three nominations at the 42nd Golden Raspberry Awards.
Richard Pace is a professional thief, and prison escapee. Schultz, owner of several private prisons (three of which Pace has escaped from), learns he is about to be released, but Pace escapes the day before Schultz's visit.
Pace stayed in the prison to learn about the wealthy 'The Prince', who is currently in LA. When he tries to steal the Prince's valuable watch collection, he suddenly realizes it is a trap set by The Prince. Forced to choose between Schultz and the FBI, Pace chooses the former, who takes him to his private plane. There, he meets three others: Ringo - a locksmith and master of disguise, Wick - an explosives expert, and Violet - a deadly martial artist-- The Misfits.
En route to Abu Dhabi, the Misfits are briefed: Schultz laundered money taken from a Brotherhood, converting it into gold. He is hiding it in one of his prison's safes, located in 'Jazeristan'. They plan to steal it to block its use for terrorism, but they need Pace's help. Initially refusing, his daughter Hope changes his mind. Pace wants to keep 50% of the gold they steal, but is told noone is keeping it.
Preparing the Jazeristan prison infiltration, the Misfits learn the Brotherhood's leader Abu Hirawa sent his right-hand man Jason Quick to collect gold bars from Schultz. However, they swap the case. Enraged, Hirawa kills Quick, then warns Schultz he is coming to get the gold bars from him directly in Jagerstan, on the day of the heist.
Once in Jazeristan, Ringo disguises himself and convinces the warden to replace the kitchen ovens. On the day this happens, Pace and Wick switch places with The Prince's contacts, disguising themselves as prisoners. While moving the ovens, Pace damages a statue honoring Schultz.
The next day, they taint the prisoners' food, causing major vomiting and diarrhea in most, so multiple prisoners are relocated to a nearby hospital via ambulances. Suspicious, Schultz fears Pace is in Jazeristan to steal his gold, so orders a search.
Meanwhile, Ringo comes to the prison disguised as the owner of a sanitation company, sending in people in with hazmat suits. Pace and Wick enter the prisoners’ bathroom directly above the safe, as if to clean it, while Hope parks a car outside. Wick drills through the safe, fills it with gas then lights it, blowing open its door. Simultaneously, Hope’s car explodes to distract the guards.
Afterwards, Pace and Wick remove the gold from the safe room. Just before, Wick photographs it with his phone, attaching it to a security camera inside. Meanwhile Schultz, realizing the car explosion was a diversion, checks the safe’s camera. At first, they only see Wick’s photo, but when Schultz cannot zoom in, they discover the deception.
Finding the gold is gone, Schultz puts the prison in lockdown. A gurney moves past him, dropping a gold bar. Believing that Pace has used the gurneys and ambulances to move the gold, he orders his men to check them. However, they find nothing.
At the prison, when an unfamiliar sanitation truck passes, Schultz and his men follow it through the desert. It stops in front of The Prince's military plane. He opens the trunk, but finds it empty. Then The Prince, Ringo, and two masked others exit the truck. The livid Schultz is calmed when he believes his men have Hope. He gives the kill order, then hangs up. However, Hope removes her mask, and introduces herself. Schultz’s men had actually tied up Violet, who defeats them and leaves.
When the angry Schultz pulls a gun, the Prince’s military aim at him and escort him to Hirawa's car. Although understanding Schultz is not at fault, Hirawa tells him justice must be delivered.
A mold was made of Schultz’s statue, so Ringo, Wick, and two of the Prince’s men already in the prison, melted down the gold, creating a gold statue. After painting it, Ringo then removes the statue for repairs from the prison.
After reuniting in Abu Dhabi, Hope and Pace officially join the Misfits, as a news report mentions a large donation given to charity, and that the price of gold is on the rise.
According to Harlin, he and Brosnan had "been looking for a project to collaborate on for some time". [3] [4]
The project was first announced on February 12, 2019 at the Berlin International Film Festival's European Film Market. Filming locations include Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Los Angeles. [5] [6] Principal photography commenced a week later. [6]
The Misfits had its world premiere in South Korea on June 3, 2021. [7] The Avenue Entertainment in association with Highland Film Group distributed the film on June 11, 2021. [8] [9]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval score of 17% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 3.70/10. [10] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 25 out of 100 based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [11]
Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
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2022 | Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Director | Renny Harlin | Nominated | [12] |
Worst Supporting Actor | Nick Cannon | Nominated | |||
Worst Screenplay | Screenplay by Robert Henny and Kurt Wimmer; Story by Robert Henny | Nominated |
The film has been controversial in Qatar due to some real life negative references to Qatar to "terror" financing and explicit references to the Muslim Brotherhood as "terrorists" with Yusuf al-Qaradawi as their mastermind. [13] The film is financed as well as co-produced by an Emirati production company, and given the involvement of Emirati media in propagating this narrative against Qatar at least since the first Qatar diplomatic crisis combined with Doha News reporting anti-Qatar plot elements in the film's content. [14] Initially announced as "Coming Soon" in the Qatari subsidiary of Dubai-headquartered Vox Cinemas, the one half of film exhibition duopoly in Qatar, with the other half being Novo Cinemas which is also Dubai-headquartered but wholly owned indirectly by Doha-based Elan Group (through their ownership of its parent Gulf Film, a regional film distributor across West Asia and North Africa dealing mostly in foreign films, including but not limited to Hollywood releases) [15] lending to this being the speculated factor behind them not picking this film up for exhibition not just in Qatar, but across all of the national markets they operated in, including UAE. As the backlash grew with leaked stills from South Korean release leading credence to discord over anti-Qatar "propaganda" embedded in the film, Emirati-owned Vox Cinemas ultimately shelved the film's planned release in Qatar, with press release confirming the move by 1 July 2021, the previously announced release date. [16]
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal, elective monarchy composed of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi as its capital. It shares land borders with Oman to the east and northeast, and with Saudi Arabia to the southwest; as well as maritime borders in the Persian Gulf with Qatar and Iran, and with Oman in the Gulf of Oman. As of 2024, the UAE has an estimated population of over 10 million, of which 11% are Emiratis; Dubai is its most populous city and is an international hub. Islam is the official religion and Arabic is the official language, while English is the most spoken language and the language of business.
Pierce Brendan Brosnan is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent James Bond in the James Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 and in multiple video games, such as GoldenEye 007.
The flag of the United Arab Emirates contains the Pan-Arab colors red, green, white, and black. It was designed in 1971 by Abdullah Mohammed Al Maainah, who was 19 years old at that time, and was adopted on 2 December 1971 after winning a nationwide flag design contest. The main theme of the flag's four colors is the sovereignty and unity of the Arab states.
Renny Harlin is a Finnish film director, producer, and screenwriter who has worked in Hollywood, Europe, and China. His best-known films include A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Deep Blue Sea.
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Human rights in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are substantially restricted. The UAE does not have democratically elected institutions and citizens do not have the right to change their government or form political parties. Activists and academics who criticize the government are detained and imprisoned, and their families are often harassed by the state security apparatus. There are reports of forced disappearances of foreign nationals and Emirati citizens, who have been abducted, detained and tortured in undisclosed locations, and denied the right to a speedy trial and access to counsel during investigations by the UAE government. Human Rights Watch states that Emirati laws maintain capital punishment and discriminate against women, migrants and LGBT individuals.
The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is one of seven emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates. It is the largest emirate, accounting for 87% of the nation's total land area or 67,340 km2 (26,000 sq mi).
Cinema of the United Arab Emirates began with a number of feature films that were broadcast on national television since the late 1980s.
Indians in the United Arab Emirates constitute the largest part of the population of the country. Over 3,860,000 Indian expats are estimated to be living in the United Arab Emirates, with over 38% of the country's total population and the fourth highest number of overseas Indians in the world, after the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia. Indian contact with the emirates that now constitute the UAE dates back several centuries, as a result of trade and commerce between the emirates and India. The UAE has experienced a tremendous increase in the population of resident Indians who initially migrated to the country as a result of opportunities in petroleum. Now, Indians are key to the UAE's construction, retail, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and transport sectors. A sizeable minority of Indian migrants are involved in professional services and entrepreneurship. Relations between India and the UAE have traditionally been very friendly.
Israel–United Arab Emirates relations traces its origins to the early days of the Oslo Accords, where Israeli and Emirati diplomats had contact with each other in the 1990s in Washington, D.C. The first diplomatic facility between the two countries opened in 2015, when Israel opened an official diplomatic mission in Abu Dhabi to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
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Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are neighbouring countries in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region, and share extensive political and cultural ties. Saudi Arabia maintains an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai of the UAE, while the UAE has an embassy in Riyadh and a consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates share a naval border and are part of the Arabic-speaking Persian Gulf region. They are both members of the GCC.
Hassan Al Sharif was an Emirati artist and prolific writer. He lived and worked in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He is widely regarded as a central figure in contemporary and conceptual art in the region, often known as the father of conceptual art in the Gulf. He founded Al Marijah Art Atelier, and through his extensive work and writings, he inspired the next generation of artists in the United Arab Emirates. His work is represented in major public collections, such as the Guggenheim New York, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Centre Pompidou, Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, and Sharjah Art Foundation.
Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the son of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder of the United Arab Emirates. Since 2016 he has served as the National Security Advisor of UAE. At the same time he manages a business portfolio, which supports national security interests and the UAE's opaque corporate sector. He chairs G42. The 2021 Pandora Papers revealed how he and his wife use shell companies to conceal their wealth.
The Saudi Arabia–United Arab Emirates border is 457 km (284 mi) in length and runs from the Persian Gulf coast in the west to the tripoint with Oman in the east.
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