Chief of Station (2024) Old school spy espionage thriller

Aaron Eckhart returns to our screens with Chief of Station
One would assume Chief of Station would be another actioner starring Aaron Eckhart, especially with Jesse Johnson at the helm. This is not the case. Jesse leaves his comfort zone and dives into the world of espionage, a place where character and actions take center stage and the violence is a mere component that happens only when needed and necessary.
This would be along the lines of the original Mission Impossible, it’s a who-dunnit with every character a suspect, every line is blurred and crossed and in the world of espionage, no one can be trusted. Loyalty comes with a price tag and anyone can be brought.
Eckhart stars as Ben Malloy, an ex CIA chief who gets thrown back into the murky world he thought he left behind when his wife is killed. As Ben gets one step closer to finding out who killed his wife he also gets one step closer to losing his life and more importantly to him, his sons. Ben utilises all his old skills to stay alive, save his son and help bring his wife’s murderers to justice.
Eckhart proves yet again he is top tier for the action genre, we can see he performs the majority of his own stunts, fight scenes and even some of his own driving. The same can be said for co-star Alex Perttyfer who brings a memorable performance to the table.
Jesse Johnson as always, doesn’t fail to deliver another solid movie proving he is much more than an action director and can deliver realistic hard hitting fight scenes with an even stronger story arc to back it up. As a fan, I’m proud of Jesse breaking the mould and trying something new.
Daniel Bernhardt, the man mountain who has gone against the best in the business, is on villain duties and gets into a really brutal fight with Eckhart’s character. It’s not a flashy martial arts spectacle but a rather brutal fight for survival, Bernhardt’s character is in kill mode and Eckhart’s Malloy is trying to survive. It’s a fight that will have you yelling for Malloy to run. Bernhardt never disappoints.
Olga Kurylenko plays Krystyna, a character we don’t quite know if we can trust, she is in a grey area of the spectrum but is instantly likeable and she also gets to kick plenty of ass and take some names!
Verdict
Chief of Station is a change of pace for both Eckhart and Johnson, as recently these guys have been smashing out bone breaking action movies whereas Chief of Station lets the story do the talking and Jesse brings the story to life, you can tell Jesse is a fan of the old school cold war, spy espionage genre and his love for it is shown on screen, while also catering for fans who expect him to blow something up. Chief of Station will deliver for fans of action, thriller and also Eckhart and Johnson.
This is definitely one worth checking out!

Check out our interview with Jesse!