Parents' Guide to iHostage

Strong performances can't save this boring movie. The setup of iHostage implies a kind of movie that never happens. Of course, the story is meant to closely follow its real-world source material, so things that happen in it can't simply be wildly invented wholesale. But this film would certainly have been more thrilling if more wild things did happen. In other words, not much happens in this film, and most audiences will likely realize around the halfway mark that very little action or dramatic moments of consequence will happen. The film's conclusion doesn't surprise in this regard, and its anticlimactic end has nothing to say about the reality of this kind of tragedy.

The other major problem of this drama has to do with how it seems unsure of who to focus on in terms of character and perspective. On one hand, the film shows the heroism and variety of people who all worked together in various roles to ultimately thwart a dangerous person's threats. On the other hand, however, this also means that no central character gets developed beyond a few bullet points, and every supporting role's character isn't developed at all, merely appearing here and there to shout orders, provide reactions for reaction shots, and represent all the roles (negotiator, police captain, other police roles, civilians) involved in this story.