Jakarta. Despite its name, Martin Campbell’s latest action thriller “Cleaner” is not immaculate for an action film, but still keeps you somewhat entertained.

Daisy Ridley, known for being Rey in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy films, is now Joey Locke, a soldier-turned-window-cleaner in this 90-minute film. The plot begins with her brother Michael (Matthew Tuck) getting evicted from a care home. Joey’s boss then calls her for a job to clean the windows of a skyscraper with Michael having to wait in the lobby.

At the same time, the snobby top brass of an energy giant holds a gala dinner with their shareholders inside that exact skyscraper. But a group of eco-terrorists led by Marcus (Clive Owen) take over the gala to fight against the corrupt energy moguls. Some radical members of the activist group, which surprise, surprise, includes Joey’s friend and fellow window cleaner Noah (Taz Skylar), decide to go on a coup and choose more violent methods. Joey, who is stuck outside, tries to save the hostages, including her brother.

“Cleaner” takes longer than expected to introduce the film’s central conflict: the kidnapping. Of course, the audience can already guess that “Cleaner” is an action film simply judging by the movie poster. But the late introduction to action actually makes the audience wonder: “Where will this film take us?”. And when “Cleaner” finally shows some fighting, they are, unfortunately, quite underwhelming.

To be frank, the coup within Marcus’ group quite took me by surprise. I genuinely thought that Noah would end up betraying the group to save Joey in some way.  “Cleaner” manages to tackle something that the present world is struggling with: global warming and how corrupt practices are making it worse. 

The overall film is just okay, and not something that puts you to sleep. Joey is also a pretty likable protagonist. But “Cleaner” leaves viewers with little to no lasting impression.

Add as a preferred source on Google +