Throughout the history of motion pictures, there has been a section of unsung heroes that make many of our films possible: the stunt teams. Stunt performers, to stunt coordinators/designers, to pyrotechnics, to fight choreographers, and so many more members of that side of filmmaking are so often overlooked (it doesn’t help that they are not recognized with most award bodies, specifically The Academy). One specific stunt performer turned director/producer that has been leading the charge on giving the stunt teams the recognition they deserve is David Leitch (producer of the John Wick films, director of Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train). Now, with his newest film The Fall Guy (an adaptation of the popular ’80s action show), Leitch truly shines a spotlight on these incredible members of the filmmaking community.

After leaving the profession due to a critical injury cause by a stunt mishap, stuntman Colt Seavers (played by Ryan Gosling) is called back to duty to be a stunt double in a movie directed by his former love, Jody Moreno (played by Emily Blunt). However, when the lead actor, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), goes missing, Colt finds himself in a darker plot than he originally imagined.

The Fall Guy is, to put it simply, an extremely fun film. The action is as you would imagine in a David Leitch film, every scene is kinetic and masterfully crafted. It is especially awesome that all of the stunt crew/team is recognized in an incredible credit sequence. The stunt team’s incredible performance is accentuated by the performances of the credited cast. Ryan Gosling is on an incredible run of entertaining performances, and his work in The Fall Guy is just a further continuation. Emily Blunt, Winston Duke, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Hannah Waddingham also all give fun supporting performances and do a fantastic job of matching Gosling’s energy.

Just with 99.99% of all other films, The Fall Guy is not a perfect movie. Coming in at a 126-min runtime is ridiculous for a movie like this, and there are multiple points within the film where you feel the time. This film easily could have cut 20-25 minutes to make this film a lot tighter. The overextended runtime is noticeable, mostly, due to the story of this movie. There is not a lot going on in this film, and you get the feeling while watching it that the filmmakers structured the plot around the stunts they wanted to do rather than the other way around.

Despite my issues with the pacing and overall plot, David Leitch still delivers a wildly entertaining film to kick off the Summer movie season. With Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt leading this entertaining action ride, I fully expect to see many more films with this duo in the future. Between Gosling and Blunt’s speech at the Oscars this year and this film giving stunts their proper spotlight, the stunt community is thriving. One great showcase isn’t going to give them their recognition in the awards circuit (just look at the newest Planet of the Apes trilogy and motion-capture performance), but The Fall Guy‘s display of love and reverence for that branch of filmmaking is a great step in that direction.

7/10

The Fall Guy is rated PG-13 for action and violence, drug content and some strong language.