Daisy Ridley’s new action movie Cleaner has become the latest addition in a long line of very specific genre flicks. First released in the United States back in February and in the United Kingdom in May, the Martin Campbell-directed movie stars Ridley as Joey, a former soldier who now works as a window cleaner at a high-rise in London. On a day when her brother joins her at work, the building is taken over by a team of radical environmental activists looking to make a prominent energy company come clean about their unsavory practices.
Naturally, it isn’t long before things get dangerous and people start dying, pushing Joey into the position of an unlikely, reluctant hero. Cleaner has been met with mixed reviews from critics, with ScreenRant‘s own Alex Harrison giving it 5 out of ten stars, but audience reception has been more positive. It recently debuted on the HBO Max streaming service and emerged as one of the top movies on the platform. It’s the kind of thrilling, escapist action movie that makes for a delightful streaming watch, but it does call to mind another beloved тιтle in the genre.
Daisy Ridley’s Cleaner Is The Latest Of Many Die Hard Clones
Die Hard Remains One Of The Best In The Action Genre
Upon its release in 1988, Die Hard beat expectations to become a hit and swiftly established itself as one of the best action movies ever. Bruce Willis became an action icon by playing John McClane, a role he would then reprise in four additional sequels, and as his opponent Hans Gruber, Alan Rickman cemented himself as one of cinema’s best villains. Over the years, Die Hard has inspired a number of copy-cats, from Under Siege to Olympus Has Fallen. Even Netflix’s 2024 hit Carry-On practically built its marketing campaign on the Die Hard premise.
Die Hard centers on Willis’ McClane, who is visiting his estranged wife at her office’s Christmas party when the building is overtaken by thieves, led by Rickman’s Gruber.
Cleaner is the latest movie to fit within this mold, and it does it on an even bigger scale than most. Even aside from the set-up of having a high-rise get taken over by bad guys while a lone hero is stuck watching, there are the added elements of said hero forming a rapport with a law enforcement official on the ground and having a loved one stuck on the inside. There’s even a specific plot point near the end of Cleaner that feels directly pulled from Die Hard‘s script.
Daisy Ridley Helps Cleaner Stand Out From The Die Hard Crowd
Ridley Could Be An Action Hero To Watch
Of course, this isn’t necessarily a strike against Cleaner; there’s a reason Die Hard has become so beloved, and it’s natural for genres to stick with certain plots over and over again. They’re endlessly watchable, and sometimes familiarity is what viewers are looking for. It’s a satisfying plot, watching an out-numbered hero take down a slew of enemies in a dynamic environment. Cleaner has plenty of exciting action and a few surprising twists, though its strongest ᴀsset is Ridley herself.
The actor broke out by playing Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and that remains her best-known role. However, in Cleaner, Ridley gets the chance to play a different kind of hero when embodying Joey, one who is messier and more willing to deal in shades of gray. Once she finally gets off the side of the building and springs into some hand-to-hand combat, she shows impressive skill as an action star. Perhaps most importantly, we firmly believe she knows what she’s doing.
Ridley hasn’t led many major films since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and she is expected to return to the franchise in an upcoming movie. However, Cleaner makes a strong case for her taking on additional action projects and continuing to be a leading lady outside the galaxy far, far away. Just as Willis did in Die Hard, Ridley makes her character feel fully developed and easy to root for, which is perhaps the biggest reason why Cleaner is such a blast to watch. Hopefully, this will be just the start of her action career.
