As many stars of the biggest IPs will confirm, stepping away from a huge franchise role into something different can be a daunting and often disappointing shift. That was certainly the case whenDaisy Ridley’spost-Star Warscareer led her to team up with Clive Owen, Taz Skylar, and former James Bond director Martin Campbell for a divisive action thriller that was a disaster at the box office but is now cleaning up on streaming.
Ridley spent several yearsbeing known for her role as Rey Skywalkerin theStar Warssequel trilogy of movies that began withThe Force Awakens, and will continue in a new movie that takes her character beyondThe Rise of Skywalker. But, like any actor or actress, Ridley does not want to be just another “Star Warsstar” and has been branching out with some of her non-franchise roles. Now, one of those has been finding redemption for the last fortnight since making its streaming debut on HBO Max.
Daisy Ridley Had a Major Worry About Her Return to the ‘Star Wars’ Franchise
Daisy Ridley has revealed she had one big fear about returning to her role of Rey Skywalker.
Cleaneris a movie that finds Ridley playing Joanna “Joey” Locke, who, with her older brother, suffered in a household with an abusive father and was forced to take to wall-climbing to escape. Years later, Joey works as a window cleaner after quitting her role as a soldier for beating up a squad-mate. The full synopsis of the movie reads:
“Set in present-day London, a group of radical activists take over an energy company’s annual gala, seizing 300 hostages in order to expose the corruption of the hosts. Their just cause is hijacked by an extremist within their ranks, who is ready to murder everyone in the building to send his anarchic message to the world. It falls to an ex-soldier turned window cleaner, played by Ridley, suspended 50 stories up on the outside of the building, to save those trapped inside, including her younger brother.”
Despite having a strong cast and more than proven director,Cleaner’sU.S. box office release resulted in a dismal $1.3 million return on its $25 million budget. Thankfully, streaming is the new savior of lost movies, and that has proven the case with Ridley’sDie Hardrip-off.
‘Die Hard’ With a Window Cleaning Daisy Ridley
It is not hard to see where some of the inspiration forCleanercame from, and that leads to a large portion of the discourse among critics that left the film with a 52% Tomatometer score, referencing Bruce Willis’ far superior Christmas (get over it) movie in their reviews.
AsEmpire Magazine’sJohn Nugent said, “Cleaner has good people behind it but this British attempt at aDie Hardends up just being a bit of a mess. Yippee-ki-nay.” Others call it a “clockwork actioner” that has “obvious budget constraints” and is a “functional but uneven ride.” Audiences were a little kinder – the film holds a 66% score – but still found problems with the “clichéd scripting” and “Daisy Ridley having little to do for most of the movie.”
Despite all this,Cleanerhas been holding steady at the top of HBO Max’s movie chart since it arrived on the platform earlier in the month, and was onlydisplaced byA Minecraft Movie’s debut a week ago. This seems to be making up for the film’s disappointing U.S. theatrical release, but whether it will be enough to see Ridley take on more action roles in the future in her nextStar Warsappearance is something we will have to wait to find out.
Source:FlixPatrol
