Parents' Guide to

Collide

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Awful action-thriller's only plus is over-the-top bad guys.

Movie PG-13 2017 99 minutes
Collide Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 18+

Based on 1 parent review

Michael C.
Michael C. Adult
October 13, 2017
age 18+

Logically stupid, but action packed

The premise is absurd and the film is plagued with cultural errors, which may not matter to many viewers, but is terrible annoying to Europeans. Here are 2 examples. First, the premise of the story involves a young American woman who needs a life saving surgery. Her American boyfriend decides to steal a truck full of cocaine to pay for her operation. This may seam like a noble gesture, but it is a false value to teach. Besides, the movie plays in Germany, which, like most European countries, has a national single payer health system that provides free life saving medical care to anyone in the country independent of place of origin. The motivation doesn't make sense. I know because I was in Germany and had a life saving surgery that was entirely free. Why would someone have to steal to pay for medical care when it´s free? It makes sens ein America, but not here. Second, in one scene, the boyfriend needs to gas up the car he stole, but the gas station doesn't accept large bills and he has no credit cards, so he is stranded at the gas station where the bad guys catch up with him. Again, this makes no sense, because in Germany you gas up and then you pay. Essentially, the boyfriend, who was on the run, could have gassed up quickly and simply driven off without paying. Of course, the stations in Germany have cameras so when someone does forget to pay, the owner receives a bill in the mail for the gas plus a €65 fine for not paying. This actually happened to me. If you ignore these cultural errors, it´s a fun action packed movie.
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What's the Story?

In COLLIDE, Casey (Nicholas Hoult) is an American living in Germany who's working as a collector for a Turkish crime lord named Geran (Ben Kingsley). When Casey meets pretty bartender Juliette (Felicity Jones), he decides to quit and go straight. But when it turns out she needs a new kidney, Casey realizes he must go back to Geran and pull a big job to raise money for the operation. It won't be an easy task: Geran tells Casey he must steal a truck full of cocaine belonging to a crooked businessman, Hagen Kahl (Anthony Hopkins). Unsurprisingly, the job goes badly, and Casey is caught. Worse, Juliette's life is in danger as well. Casey must stay one jump ahead of the bad guys to reach her.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (1):

This action thriller is plagued by poor camera work and a screenplay that's riddled with holes and implausibilities; the only worthwhile thing about it is the bad guys' wild scenery chewing. Director Eran Creevy (Welcome to the Punch) takes his camera and lets it lurch and swing and meander aimlessly while choppy editing ramps things up. Scenes set in a nightclub and the endless, constant car chases are enough induce nausea. The camera likewise can't sit still on the characters, perhaps because their exchanges are boring and flat.

Then, as the chase unfolds, logical questions start to crop up and become increasingly unanswerable. How are the bad guys always able to catch up to the good guy? Why does he choose to use the "card up his sleeve" so late in the game? By the climax of Collide, nothing makes any sense. Only the high-caliber acting of Kingsley, with wild glasses and accent, and Hopkins, smooth and deadly in a powder-blue suit, makes Collide even worth mentioning. Otherwise, it's forgettable.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Collide's violence. Does the fact that it's largely bloodless and without deaths mean it has less impact?

  • How are drinking and drugs portrayed in the movie? Are there any consequences for using them? Why is that important?

  • Is it justified for Casey to steal all those cars and all that money and wreck all that property if he's doing it for a good reason? Do the ends ever justify the means?

  • How are female characters portrayed in the movie? Are they objectified?

Movie Details

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