Apple TV+ has come out with some pretty awesome movies over the last few years. Many have gone on to receive massive awards, such as CODA winning Best Picture in 2022, and many other actors and actresses from these movies getting nominated for big awards. It was only a matter of time until the streaming platform decided to step into different genres and create a romantic action-adventure comedy, which has led us to Ghosted.
The film dropped on April 21, 2023 to…not so great reviews from critics. The audience score wasn’t super fantastic, either. But I love Chris Evans, and I love Ana de Armas, and I decided to give it a shot because I liked them in Knives Out, so why not watch this pairing again?
Hours later and I have to say – there were some things I loved about this movie, and other things I didn’t, which we can all talk about it right here. Regardless, I had a ton of fun with it.
Chris Evans Is Still The Perfect Romantic Lead
I’m sure that many people know Chris Evans as Captain America at this point. He played the role for nearly a decade and certainly embodied what it meant to be a superhero. He was one of the main faces of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a long time, until his Steve passed the mantle down to Sam (played by Anthony Mackie).
If you love Chris Evans, check out some other awesome performances from him.
Evans has done plenty of other amazing film work as well, from Gifted to Snowpiercer, but before any of these super dramatic roles or superhero films, Evans was primarily known for teen/comedy movies as (usually) romantic lead. Not Another Teen Movie, The Perfect Score – heck, you could even count Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, since he was fighting for love in that movie.
Evans had experience playing these roles for some time and it was honestly refreshing to see him return to something so fun as this. He still has that leading man chemistry, and I could certainly see him starring in plenty of romantic comedies in the future.
And It’s Honestly Hysterical Seeing Him In Such A Clumsy Action Role After Marvel
To be honest, this was one of my favorite parts. I loved seeing Evans not be a badass for once.
I’m so used to seeing him as Captain America and being this upstanding awesome guy with badass moves who seems to never get seriously hurt. But here, he plays a farmer who is certainly not the best at being a kick-butt hero. He barely knows how to fight and uses creative ways to take people out; not the typical ways you would expect.
It’s moments like this where I really do love these roles for him, because it makes him more into a normal person again, rather than showing him as just a superhero all the time. It was so funny.
Ana De Armas Could Be A Great Romantic Lead Too – But Just Not With Evans
Look, I totally understand why Ana de Armas was cast in this alongside Evans. The two are friends in real life and when Scarlett Johansson wasn’t able to do Ghosted, Armas seemed like the next best option. I love the actress dearly, and I can’t wait to see her in Ballerina. Armas could be a romantic-comedy lead. She has the screen presence to do it.
However, I just don’t see it with Evans. It’s such a shame, because I feel like they had some of the best scenes together in Knives Out, but that was a completely different genre, and them as romantic leads paired together didn’t work out. She could do some awesome work in romantic comedies – but just not with her buddy.
However, Individually, They Have A Lot Of Fun In Ghosted
These two did make my day whenever they were separate in the film. While I enjoyed their moments on screen together, despite the fact that the chemistry wasn’t the best – there were some moments when they were on their own that truly were awesome.
For example, one of my favorite parts of Ghosted was seeing Evans' character, Cole, spending the day at work with his family and how his sister completely calls him out on being a weirdo for messaging Sadie over and over again while we watch him continuously check his phone throughout the day.
That was some good comedic timing and I genuinely enjoyed those scenes, because it felt very real and like something someone would actually do.
The Soundtrack Is Also A Lot Of Fun
This is a very random thing that I noticed, but I found myself really digging the soundtrack throughout the film. The songs that were used were some great additions to the movie and made it so much more enjoyable as a whole.
“Feel It Still” is a good one that is used. “Like Sugar,” is an awesome song. “Uptown Funk” by my boy Bruno Mars is great. And, “Love Again” is slowly becoming a classic Dua Lipa song that I am hearing over and over. Really good soundtrack that I could see myself bopping to.
All Of Those Insects In The Villain’s Lair Look Hilariously Fake
I mean, I wasn’t expecting much from an Apple TV+ movie but those insects still looked hilariously fake.
This is coming from someone who is actually pretty familiar with insect bites because for a time, I was obsessed with YouTuber Coyote Peterson, who spent a good amount of his time making educational videos on the very insects that we see in this movie. And most of the ones in the film looked extremely fake.
I do like the creativity, though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie villain use a pain index of insect bites to torture their victims. Pretty creative.
But The Action Is Enjoyable To Watch
I mean, it’s not the kind of James Bond level of action that you would expect from an action-adventure movie like this featuring a spy, but it’s fun. I especially like the plane scene. Something about close quarters fights always makes me super interested and I can’t turn away. Definitely enjoyed the heck out of it.
I didn’t like the last scene, though. It felt a little too fake for my liking – the green screen was very real. But, every fight scene looked like the actors were having the time of their lives – and honestly, I would be too.
And The Random Cameos Were Everything
Were they just for funsies and because Evans is probably close friends with all the actors that made cameos? Of course. But man, I practically squealed when Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Ryan Reynolds, and John Cho appeared on my television screen.
Are cameos for everyone? No, obviously not. I’m sure these pleased a very specific group of people (i.e. Marvel and superhero nerds like me) and no one else really cared as much. But I enjoyed it for what it was, and liked seeing them on screen together.
Was Ghosted the best romantic-comedy/action-adventure film? No, but it didn’t need to be. There are plenty of reasons to enjoy this film, and to be truthful, that’s how I went into it. I wasn’t expecting an Academy Award winner and I genuinely had a lot of fun.
