Cleanskin Reviews

"I'm going to find everyone of them, and send them to the death they pray for."

A low-budget British action-thriller, 2012's Cleanskin puts terrorism in the United Kingdom under the microscope. For those unaware, the term 'cleanskin' is used to describe an unexpected terrorist with no known ties to any terrorist groups; someone who essentially appears out of the blue to wreak havoc despite appearing to be a regular citizen. The film was produced, written, directed and edited by British filmmaker Hadi Hajaig, and the product is an unusually nuanced thriller with an eye towards character development, painting a portrait of two men at opposing ends of the ideological spectrum. Cleanskin is not a complete success due to a few scripting flaws, but it's a valiant effort on the part of Hajaig.

The 'cleanskin' of the title is Ash (Galeya), a young British Muslim who elects the terrorist route after being brainwashed. Staging an attack on an arms dealer, Ash stealers a large stash of deadly plastic explosive with plans to devastate London through a series of bombings. Ash's actions send the British Secret Service into damage control, with an agent named Ewan (Bean) being assigned to track down the briefcase and retrieve the explosives before Ash can put his master plan into action.

The premise sounds like a promising set-up for a Taken-style action film spotlighting Sean Bean on a violent rampage against Muslin extremists. But Cleanskin is a different type of thriller, and the majority of its runtime is used to probe Ash's background and explore his transformation from meek University student to terrorist. Hajaig's attempt to humanise a home-grown terrorist is laudable, yet it may not sit well with everyone, and Hajaig only provides a very paltry set of reasons for Ash to want to become a terrorist. It's poignant to see Ash being "radicalised" by an overweening Imam, but the trigger which sends Ash to the dark side is preposterous: troubles with his girlfriend Kate (Middleton). Is that really what causes terrorism these days? Worse, Ash's arc is ultimately rushed, and his eventual transformation into suicide bomber is shoddy. Ash is established as someone who feels bad about a couple of civilian casualties, but he decides to strap on a bomb and murder a lot of innocents without proper motivation. Furthermore, Bean's character of Ewan is too thinly-drawn. Hajaig focuses so much on Ash that Ewan is rendered as more of a one-dimensional hero without much in the way of depth or background.

Cleanskin fares best during its major set-pieces, of which there are a few. The opening shootout is exhilarating and well-staged, while the various other conflicts throughout the picture are gripping. Hajaig occasionally employs shaky-cam which can be irritating, but the action is for the most part watchable and enjoyable. And for a film that reportedly cost an estimated £2 million, production values are top-notch and the film looks exceptional. Cleanskin also packs one hell of a punch during its scenes depicting the London bombings. In one scene, we're introduced to a beautiful, endearing young lady who's talking on the phone to her mother whilst walking to work. It's easy to assume she might become a key player, but, lo and behold, she suddenly becomes the victim of a suicide bombing. It's a brutally effective scene which emphasises the true horror of these bombings, underscoring that innocent people with their own unique lives were senselessly killed.

Sean Bean has always been a talented thespian, but has often been relegated to supporting roles in major motion pictures. It's refreshing, then, to see Bean at long last getting more substantial roles, even if they're only in direct-to-DVD efforts. Bean is excellent here as Ewan, engaging and full of intensity. In his 50s, Bean has the right look for a grizzled, gritty action hero, somewhat akin to Liam Neeson. The rest of the cast is quite good, as well. Abhin Galeya is terrific as Ash; at times charismatic, at other times scarily serious. Galeya and co-star Tuppence Middleton (as Kate) were required to play their characters both as young University students and mature adults. Amazingly, the actors sell both versions of their roles in terms of appearance, body language and temperament. It's tremendously effective.

Uneven pacing and script issues aside, Cleanskin is a solid action-thriller which deserves to be seen. It's easy to appreciate what writer-director Hadi Hajaig has achieved here, but it's a shame that the film does not quite reach its full potential. One must wonder how much more effective the film might've been with a more generous budget or with a few more script rewrites.

6.0/10