Mr. Robot Fans Need To Watch Rami Malek's Sleek Action Thriller On Hulu

Sam Esmail's "Mr. Robot" had its finger on the pulse throughout most of its four-season run. This Rami Malek-led hacker drama can be difficult to categorize, as it hyperfixates on and oscillates between disparate themes while constantly reinventing its identity. It is a deeply personal story that is also painfully universal, as "Mr. Robot" ultimately centers on the human urge to connect with another, filtered through the disorienting perspective of superhacker Elliot Anderson (Malek). As the seasons progress, the cryptic nature of the show gradually starts to unravel, framed through Esmail's striking visual style and a consistent anti-capitalist philosophy. Much of the bittersweet pathos in the series stems from Malek's incredible performance, synced and contrasted against an equally brilliant Christian Slater, whose titular character haunts the narrative even when he's absent.

James Hawes' latest action thriller, "The Amateur," might be a far cry from Esmail's critically acclaimed series, but some thematic overlaps surely exist. For starters, Malek plays a different kind of anarchist in "The Amateur," as he slips into the shoes of CIA intelligence analyst Charles Heller, a sensitive and awkward man who, at first, keeps mostly to himself. However, after his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) is brutally murdered within the first 10 minutes of the film, Charles realizes that he must pursue unsavory means to hunt down the perpetrators. After receiving a crash course on becoming a secret agent (by blackmailing his higher-ups), Charles is now ready to embark upon his revenge-fueled globe-trotting spy adventure.

If the "Mr. Robot" connection isn't clear yet beyond Malek's involvement, it might help to know that "The Amateur" leans into a taut, conspiracy-laden story, cooking up the right amount of paranoia to heighten the stakes in this spy flick. Unfortunately, it failed to impress critics and audiences alike, performing poorly at the box office. But is "The Amateur" any good?

Robert Littell's 1981 novel, "The Amateur," which was also adapted into an eponymous 1982 film, is deliberately structured to facilitate the kineticism that comes with a convoluted spy thriller plot. While there is ample space for exciting action, Littell's novel takes a predominantly nihilistic view about futuristic gadgets, especially the ones that can be exploited for unethical surveillance. This paranoia is not completely baseless (considering the state of our world), but it is expectedly connected to the more dramatic clichés associated with the genre (the dead wife, a high-energy chase sequence, a covert conspiracy meant to unsettle you). Hawes sticks to these drab genre expectations, but does a decent job of making a substantial, intermittently fun case for Charlie and his chaotic quest for revenge.

/Film's Jeremy Mathai highlighted the film's "workmanlike competency" in his review, while stating how "The Amateur" ultimately "gets dragged down by the weight of a few too many tropes, a somewhat haphazard plot that can't quite bring two separate storylines into a cohesive whole, and an ending that feels oddly unsatisfying as a result." This perfectly encapsulates what the film has to offer — the story is marked with the occasional high-point that complements Malek's strengths as an unconventional lead, but plummets back down to an underwhelming baseline that starts to feel tedious over time.

That said, "The Amateur" does offer a jolly good time when it relishes in the action-heavy parts of Charles' journey, as it paints the picture of a ruthless man who perceives his moral compass as justified. This might get a bit tricky for those willing to dive deeper into the complicated morality of working for the CIA, but if you ignore this dissonance, Charles' transformation feels organic, satisfying even. After all, this is someone who is more reliant on his shrewd intelligence than his brute strength, although he can be pretty cold-blooded when it comes to murder. Malek fuses these elements to form a fascinating mix and is perhaps the most interesting component of Hawes' genre concoction.

"The Amateur" is currently streaming on Hulu.