Cleaner (2025)

[Tony208]

Playing in so few theaters may have to travel for this one

[Zivouhr]

This is playing Friday in theaters to my surprise as it's the first I've seen of it today. Looks like a potentially fun Diehard style movie but with Daisy.

She learned sword moves in the Star Wars films, so I can believe she'd learn fight moves for this too.

It looks interesting.
Clive Owen was in "Shoot 'em Up" which is an over the top almost non-stop action movie from years ago, but not much story.

It competes with Captain 4, Flow, and The Monkey, and winter storm weather from last week.

Originally Posted by spanky87

I saw it when it was randomly put up as a rental on Prime for a few days.

It was okay at best. Not something I would’ve watched if one of my favorite actresses wasn’t in it. For a 97 minute action flick it sure does take its sweet ass time to get to it. Daisy Ridley’s character is literally on the side of the building for like 3/4 of the film, but the action in the 3rd act is pretty awesome. Taz Skylar is such a natural at playing a baddie.

As a Daisy Ridley fan this was definitely a step down from the great films/performances she had in 2024. Seek those out.

Thanks for the review.

[dommie]

Originally Posted by spanky87

How strange. I didn’t expect this to be a big release, but definitely not something that would be put on Amazon prime as a rental weeks before its theatrical release. I wonder if this was a mistake? Only appears to be on Amazon Prime at the moment. I’ll check it out there since I don’t think it’s going to play in Canadian theatres anyway. Only $9.99 rental on the Canadian side.

It must be available on Prime in certain areas only. I live in Southern California and when I go to the URL, the film comes up on Prime but with a post noting that the film is not available to stream in my area. I'm wondering if it was pulled in favor of the releasing it theatrically in certain areas. It is opening this week at one theater near me.

[Dreamliner330]

I saw Cleaner today with A-List. Unfortunately, it's at the same level as most of Martin Cambell's movies...kind of a stinker. It is not completely bad, but just not anything interesting at all.

Cleaner is a direct-to-streaming quality Die Hard rip off with poor acting and bad dialog. Daisy Ridley is fine but really doesn't have much to do and the ONE line that should be great towards the end, gets the dialog stepped on and has terrible delivery...

5/10.

Martin Cambell directed the best Brosnan Bond movie (Goldeneye) and the best Craig Bond movie, and my personal favorite Bond movie of all time (Casino Royale). It just seems like a lot of his other movies are just not that great. Sad.

[Star Lord]

How did she go from star war to straight to DVD crap like this one?

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

I saw Cleaner today with A-List. Unfortunately, it's at the same level as most of Martin Cambell's movies...kind of a stinker. It is not completely bad, but just not anything interesting at all.

Cleaner is a direct-to-streaming quality Die Hard rip off with poor acting and bad dialog. Daisy Ridley is fine but really doesn't have much to do and the ONE line that should be great towards the end, gets the dialog stepped on and has terrible delivery...

5/10.

Martin Cambell directed the best Brosnan Bond movie (Goldeneye) and the best Craig Bond movie, and my personal favorite Bond movie of all time (Casino Royale). It just seems like a lot of his other movies are just not that great. Sad.

Interesting to hear he is the same guy for the Bond film, thanks.
How was the action in this? Did Daisy get to fight some bad guys with some skill? I did hear she's outside the building most of the movie.

Originally Posted by Star Lord

How did she go from star war to straight to DVD crap like this one?

These days, most new movies are direct to video streaming or disc. It's rare for stars these days to be in most theatrical films unless their name is Mark Wahlberg or Sam Jackson, who are in theatrical movies yearly without fail most years.
The percent of movies that get theatrical releases is very small to the endless flood of new movies.

[Dreamliner330]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

How was the action in this? Did Daisy get to fight some bad guys with some skill? I did hear she's outside the building most of the movie.

She’s outside alone for probably the entire movie except the last 20 minutes. There are actually some good fight scenes towards the very end but less than 10 minutes and the very last one is ruined by poor dialog delivery.

This movie would have been significantly better if she was in the building the whole time and picking off baddies Home Alone style. The script is bad and the direction can’t fix that at all.

The percent of movies that get theatrical releases is very small to the endless flood of new movies.

It’s amazing to me movies like this get made. They have to know it’ll never be profitable just looking at the script.

[cinemaphile]

FYI, this is listed as available on digital in 28 days, so March 21.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

She’s outside alone for probably the entire movie except the last 20 minutes. There are actually some good fight scenes towards the very end but less than 10 minutes and the very last one is ruined by poor dialog delivery.

This movie would have been significantly better if she was in the building the whole time and picking off baddies Home Alone style. The script is bad and the direction can’t fix that at all.


It’s amazing to me movies like this get made. They have to know it’ll never be profitable just looking at the script.

Thanks for that info about her outside most of the movie. Agreed, it's more fun if she was inside stealth mode. Not sure what her situation was that kept her out there most of the film. Good to hear the fights were good at least.

Reminds me of the movie Skyscraper, though he's outside, he also spends time inside. The Rock's version of Diehard. Entertaining and good action.

DIehard is a classic.

[cardiac161]

Personally think the last decent or watchable films Martin Campbell directed were Edge of Darkness (2010) and The Foreigner (2017), both heavily relying on the strength of its cast like Mel Gibson, Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan.

[spanky87]

Talk show promo:

Daisy Ridley Filmed Her Own Stunts In Star Wars, Cleaner & Young Woman and the Sea - YouTube

Fight clip:

Cleaner Exclusive Movie Clip - Joey and Freya Fight (2025) - YouTube

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by cardiac161

Personally think the last decent or watchable films Martin Campbell directed were Edge of Darkness (2010) and The Foreigner (2017), both heavily relying on the strength of its cast like Mel Gibson, Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan.

The Foreigner was generally good. I didn't realize he directed that too. I'll need to look up his filmography.

[Bugg]

It doesn't look great, but I'd pick this over the new Captain America flick. Plus it's only about 90 minutes, so I assume it doesn't get as bogged down in exposition bloat as most modern action films.

[BluBonnet]

Hey, what's with the Cap-bashing? That movie is extremely well-crafted in every sense of the word and absolutely deserves to be seen on the largest screens available.

Cleaner is a fun B- movie, and Daisy is great in it, but it's a rock botton-budget effort that won't lose anything if you watch it in your phone or even your Apple Watch

[dommie]

Just saw Cleaner. It's a serviceable "B" movie action film that was enjoyable at that level. Daisy does a pretty good job with the limited material that she has to work with. The action set pieces are well directed by Campbell but this film is below much of his previous output. Of his most recent films, I liked The Foreigner. Edge of Darkness was good but I think it would have been pretty bad if not for Mel Gibson and his brand of intensity he brings to the proceedings.

Cleaner was a pleasant diversion and I was entertained for its' 90 minute runtime but I don't feel the need to see it again.

[Show spoiler]I was surprised to see Clive Owen in what basically amounts to a cameo. His role could have been played by any "B" level character actor. He was in and out of the film in a flash.

[Dreamliner330]

Originally Posted by spanky87

Fight clip:

[Show spoiler]Cleaner Exclusive Movie Clip - Joey and Freya Fight (2025) - YouTube

This is the best scene in the whole movie.

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

Hey, what's with the Cap-bashing? That movie is extremely well-crafted in every sense of the word and absolutely deserves to be seen on the largest screens available.

Oof. Mackie is no Captain. The writer is no writer. The director is no director. That movie just makes me sad. Just a meandering lukewarm puddle of a movie. Not bad but nothing redeeming either.

[BluBonnet]

Mackie is an absolutely perfect Captain America. The writing is first-rate all the way, with great subtext and great character motivation across all the main characters. The director is at the top of his game. That movie really soars!! An absolute blast from beginning to end. One of the best of the "political thriller as CBM".

There, fixed that for you!

[The Great Owl]

Four stars

The best way that I can describe the 2025 British action thriller, Cleaner, is to say that it is the Die Hard of skyscraper movies.

Terrorists have seized control of a high-rise energy corporation headquarters in London by infiltrating the tower during an annual gala and holding the company executives hostage on the top floor. During the fray, Joey, a window cleaner played by Daisy Ridley, is trapped on a scaffold outside of the upper floors. Unfortunately for the bad guys, though, Joey has a military background and has a personal stake in the situation, because her autistic brother is stuck inside the building. Before you can say, "Welcome to the party, pal!", our resourceful heroine is communicating with a knowledgable police contact on the ground below and sneaking inside the headquarters so that she can go full yippee-ki-yay on the murderous eco-extremists.

Cleaner may not be the most originally innovative screen story in the world, but it does benefit wonderfully from the direction of Martin Campbell, who knows his way around fight scenes after helming films like GoldenEye, Casino Royale, and Vertical Limit. One particular scene, where an unfortunate villain is blown through a glass window by an explosive, had me cheering enthusiastically.

Seeing Daisy Ridley in a non-Star Wars movie is its own reward, even more so because her character's underdog persona is so relatable here as she navigates everyday hassles early in the narrative while unintentionally letting everyone around her down. Matthew Tuck also excels as Joey's brother, who happens to have an inner steel of his own. The interactions between Joey and her brother have a genuine warmheartedness to them that has me pulling for both of them during their moments of peril. Be on the lookout for Clive Owen as well in a prominent role as a head baddie.

Contemporary themes about climate change, corporate corruption, and ecological responsibility figure heavily into this tall tale, but not in an obtrusively preachy way. The heady aspects of this film certainly do not hamper its tough-as-nails showdowns once the proceedings go into overdrive during the final half hour.

[russweiss1]

I enjoyed the film but wish that Ridley was given more to do in the first 2/3 of the film.

[Modren]

Originally Posted by Star Lord

How did she go from star war to straight to DVD crap like this one?

To be fair, the leads in the Star Wars movies didn't go on to be A-list stars. Mark Hamill eventually found a niche in voice acting, but Hayden Christensen also wound up doing a lot of direct-to-video schlock. It's usually the side actors who had big careers, though they either had established careers before Star Wars (Ewan McGregor and Adam Driver) or they blew up with a different big franchise around the same time as Star Wars (Harrison Ford).