The Fifth Estate

This film kinda feels premature, and by that I mean the ultimate consequences of the Wikileaks phenomenon are possibly yet to be felt.

As a result, the film never really successfully develops a sense of danger for the main characters. Sure, they are in trouble, and important American politicians in expensive planes are on to them, but where is the jeopardy?

There's lots of passionate talk about freedom and empowering the people which is fine, but Julian Assange comes across as someone who is really more in it for himself. He even makes it clear at the end that it's about everyone, but that it's also "about me".

Ironically, Assange himself has made it clear in several press releases and interviews that he thinks the film is a "serious propaganda attack on Wikileaks and the integrity of its staff". This may help to explain the film's failure to truly get a handle on who Assange really is. Since Assange himself has condemned the film, what then did we really see? Someone else's propaganda? Does it therefore beg the question, who is blowing the whistle on the whistleblowers?

Benedict Cumberbatch's performance (and his Australian accent) are superb and they help to keep the audience at least nominally interested even while the film devolves into standard weak cliff-hanger moments and a chase scenario that never really kicks into high-gear.

With Assange still hold-up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Wikileaks still in business and no one yet (as far as I know) facing any kind of prosecution, it feels like the third act of this film is still to be written.

** out of *****