Crafting a proper action film requires a number of storytelling elements that successfully blend together to make it a fulfilling experience. An enthralling story, captivating performances, gripping score, and immersive direction are just some of these pieces needed to complete the action-adventure puzzle. The James Bond and Mission Impossible movies are perfect examples of films that have mastered these elements, creating long-lasting franchises in the process. However, when one of these elements outweighs the others, it can throw the whole feature off its axis. Unfortunately, this is the case for Brando Benetton's latest action short film. Nightfire has ambitious ideas, and executes most with style, but suffers at the hands of its short runtime and lack of fully explored storylines.
The film opens on Agent Carter (Lorenzo Pisoni) and Agent Ross (Greg Hadley), who were hired by the United States government to retrieve a series of chips containing top-secret information. During their mission, they stumble upon an Italian political prisoner named Olivetti (Dylan Baker), whom Agent Carter decides to rescue before they blow the place they were searching to smithereens. However, once the agents make their way back to the embassy, they come to find that there's more bubbling beneath this seemingly perfect political surface than meets the eye, and everyone involved has a very important secret they're hiding.
Nightfire has big ideas it sets out to tell with its story, and it's clear from Benetton's bold direction that he wants to savor every drop of action that he can out of its short runtime. Even the intense and gripping score from Jonathan Russell sets the tone straight away for a thrilling adventure. However, Benetton's script, co-written with Los Silva, never quite reaches the same heights as its direction and score. Often, the dialogue feels mundane, and its overall plot veers in directions that are strikingly familiar to storylines used in a majority of action films already. Very rarely does it spark any intrigue, leaving an important layer of thrilling suspense to the wayside in favor of well-shot visuals, courtesy of cinematographer Garrett Nicholson.
Unfortunately, the acting doesn't do much to help elevate the writing, either. The two leading performances from Pisoni and Hadley, in particular, often feel as if their dialogue is forced, never truly selling the suspense Nightfire promises from the get-go. Baker, on the other hand, feels fully invested in the story that Benetton is trying to tell, even if his accent certainly leaves something to be desired. He brings a number of added layers to this performance that make him interesting and compelling. However, the short film never offers up an opportunity to explore this character, his motives, or his personality. That point actually goes for all of the characters.
In the end, most of Nightfire's shortcomings stem from its runtime. Even though it has a number of the elements needed in order to make an action film worth watching, its lack of a powerful, solid story coupled with forced performances makes it a swing and a miss for the popular genre. Perhaps if the film's runtime were extended to that of a feature film, it'd have more time to spread its wings and explore its characters and storytelling potential. Instead, its plot feels suffocated by the short time span it has to execute it all. Despite these faults, the aspects of the film that do work well, mainly the direction and score, show Benetton as a promising and ambitious filmmaker with plenty of thrilling ideas up his sleeve.
Nightfire is now available on Hulu and Amazon. It is 43 minutes long and Not Rated.