Catherine Zeta-Jones stars in her Quentin Tarantino-meets-Guy Ritchie crime thriller ‘Kill Jackie’

Pirate shows are having a moment in streaming. from Mobland to luckyThese projects combine style and risk to draw millions of viewers, prompting networks to search for their next hit. is the latest addition to that streaming queue Kill JackieAmazon is a new comedy-thriller from MGM Studios, which premieres this week on AMC+. At the center of the action Catherine Zeta-Jonesis taking A character that couldn’t be more different from the stylish parts she’s known for. She still has style, but those fashion ensembles are now riddled with bullets and bloodshed.

What is ‘Kill Jockey’?

Oscar-winner Zeta-Jones plays Jackie Price, a wealthy but secretive art dealer who lives in the gray area between law and order. One day, she discovers that her elderly neighbor has been executed by professional killers, and the same killers then try to kill her. Jackie is targeted by an elite group of killers known as the Seven Demons, who she suspects are connected to her past as a successful drug baron. Grabbing her faithful assistant (Hattie Hook) and the distraught lawyer (Daniel Ings), previously no one knew about her past, Jackie must draw on her old skills and dwindling allies to fight her pursuersWhile trying to uncover who is really behind the hit.

Kill Jackie Based on the novel The price you pay by Nick HarkawayWriting under his pseudonym Aidan’s chests. The main character was gender-flipped for the TV adaptation, with the action moving from New York to London. Tom Butterworththe creator Gangs of LondonActing as writer and showrunner, while Zeta-Jones serves as executive producer, Jackie marks her first lead role in a TV series since 2019. Queen America. It was a rare opportunity for the actor to perform with his native Welsh accent, the first time in his career that he was able to do so.

Kill Jackie Establishes its aesthetic from the start, with the show’s leads dressed in sleek costumes and walking around to cool needle drops from their likes. Dusty Springfield, MIAAnd Tom Jones. Very quickly, things descend into chaos with elaborate murders, sharp jokes and colorful characters. Like an irreverent take John WickThe series quickly introduces viewers to the criminal underworld, where each has a unique quirk (each of the Seven Demons has their own specific calling card, for example).

Kill JackieHis style is knowingly excessivewith such influences as Quentin Tarantino And Guy Ritchie Immediately obvious to the eye. The dialogue never takes itself seriously, with Zeta-Jones downplaying the villains’ menace with a sarcastic eye roll, inhuman insult or glib fourth-wall break. The supporting characters in particular are drawn broadly (all the villains seem to be drawn from a vault of gangster movie stereotypes), but Jackie herself is so likable that her vs. the world is dynamic as the walls close in around her.

Catherine Zeta-Jones has a lot of fun as a woman on the run in ‘Kill Jackie’

After making a name for herself on the big screen in Hollywood in the late 90s and late 2000s, Zeta-Jones began working on American television in the late 2010s. Hatred: Bette and Joan, WednesdayAnd National Treasure: The Edge of History. Most of them are supporting parts or roles that rely on her glamour, but in Jackie, Zeta-Jones finds A decent one Her knack for comedy plays an important role. She has a wonderfully dry sense of humor, but she’s willing to commit herself to both physical hilarity and death-defying action.

Zeta-Jones’s wit and charisma soar to success Kill Jackie When the plot goes astray. She has a magnetism that makes you believe Jackie’s inner circle will drop everything to follow her, while also displaying a hard edge that keeps pace with the worst criminals fighting for her head. If the show survives beyond this first season, it will be because Zeta-Jones carries it on her expensively dressed shoulders.

‘Kill Jackie’ finally ties up in knots

Finally, Kill JackieHis writing is so concerned with pulling narrative rabbits out of hats that, ultimately, the world of the series becomes a maze of double-crossings. Everyone the trio meets has a hidden agenda that usually ends in a shootout, but the plot ties itself in knots as it tries to spring a surprise around the next corner. This formula eventually repeats itself, because without knowing who to trust, you eventually get used to the fact that everyone is a suspect and there is always another puppet master pulling the strings.

The series delights in depicting every possible way a character can be murdered, with blood flying across the screen like Jackie’s private jet. It is difficult to know Kill JackieHis story is taking on a larger moral position or, as Jackie hinted in the premiere, a rich man who wants to experience the thrill of risk once again. If the episodes of the show are finished in half an hour, It can be easy to hide these shortcomings in the frantic pace of the story — but at about 40-45 minutes in, those weaknesses make the second half of the season drag on.

Kill Jackie Not your next binge, but it could be your next guilty pleasureWith a mix of comedy, action, and beauty, it has a plot that shocks more than makes sense. However, Zeta-Jones’ charming title character might be enough to entice you to see the story through to the bitter end.

Kill Jackie Premieres October 2nd on AMC+.