Blackout (2022) Review

Blackout opens with a man who we’ll later learn is named Cain (Josh Duhamel, Bandit, Night of the Animated Dead) trying to make a rather explosive escape from wherever it was he was staying. It doesn’t work though and his car is shot up causing him to crash.

Luckily for him whoever shot him obviously never heard of double tap, because he wakes up in the hospital. He’s cuffed to his bed but overwise in remarkably good shape. Apart from the fact that he doesn’t remember what happened to him and doesn’t recognize Anna (Abbie Cornish, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Sucker Punch) who claims to be his wife, or the sinister looking Eddie (Omar Chaparro, Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Martians vs. Mexicans) who claims they’re like brothers.

Meanwhile, DEA Agent Ethan McCoy (Nick Nolte, Northville Cemetery Massacre, 48 Hours) is inspecting the remains of the house Cain fled from, and the body burned beyond recognition found in it.

We’ve all seen multiple variations on this theme before, a badass man of action loses his memory, while conveniently remembering how to kill, and has to figure out who wants him dead and why. Writer Van B. Nguyen (Blue Bloods) and director Sam Macaroni (Guest House, the VR segments for John Wick 3) know this and don’t waste much time with the setup. We’re quickly introduced to the main characters and given enough information to have a basic idea of what’s going on. Fifteen minutes into Blackout, Cain is uncuffed and putting a beatdown on cartel enforcers.

There’s really not much mystery as to who Cain is, he’s either a government agent, one of Eddie’s lieutenants who double-crossed him, or a member of a rival cartel. And given the nature of these films, it’s not hard to guess which one it is. The real questions relate to Anna’s identity and where her, and McCoy’s loyalties lie. Cain just has to worry about staying alive long enough to find out.

For what was obviously a lower-budget film Blackout does have a goodly number of fight scenes and some fairly bloody kills. We also get stuntwork including fire and fall gags that are done without CGI. That’s something I would assume was made possible by the cheaper cost of filming in Mexico. Regardless of the reason, it’s a welcome addition to the film.

Plotwise, Blackout isn’t quite as impressive. The basic plot is a bit of Die Hard and a bit of Trauma Center mixed up with a bit of Bourne. Thankfully the pace is cranked up much higher than Assault on VA-33 the other recent Die Hard in a hospital film, so the lack of originality really doesn’t matter all that much.

There are a couple of things that it couldn’t cover though, such as Cain’s room not being the first place Eddie had his men search. Or the DEA team that’s sent to Mexico advertising their presence with DEA in big letters across their jackets. And the answer to what’s in the case everyone is chasing will have half the audience rolling their eyes and the other half fully believing it.

My eyes rolled so hard that they did a 360 in their sockets, but by that point, it really didn’t matter. Because by then Blackout had delivered ninety minutes of fast-paced entertainment. Having a more believable resolution would have been nice but it couldn’t take away the fun I was having up to that point. And in a film like this that’s what people are looking for, so sit back and enjoy.

Blackout will debut on Netflix in multiple territories including the US, Canada and UK on October 12th. A German Blu-ray release is scheduled for the 28th. And if you want more action, FilmTagger can suggest a few titles for you.

Where to watch Blackout