Tame. The word is “tame” and that’s it. Oh, I’m sure it was Hell-on-Earth for the one (1) hostage, and pretty nerve-wracking for the trapped employees and customers, not to mention a police force in need of a peaceful resolution. But the single word that comes to mind following this tense real-life hostage situation in an Amsterdam Apple Store is “tame.”
So this really happened. Score one for reality. Lose several for “Meh.” On February 22, 2022 (2/22/22 ?!), one (1!). I repeat, ONE disgruntled armed man went into an Apple Store on The Leidseplein and took control.
Well … kinda.
You see, when people figured out there was a gunman with bad intent, they fled, regardless of instruction. Many found safety in a residence upstairs; some took refuge in a closet. One poor bastard. Ilian Petrov (Admir Sehovic), actually got on the floor as instructed and became the terrorist pin-cushion.
Well, that’s not quite fair, either. Ammar Ajar (Soufiane Moussouli) -according to this film- can neither be described as “terrorist” nor “cruel.” He appeared to have no political agenda, and he didn’t seem keen on hurting anybody. He just wanted attention in the worst kind of way.
Yeah, um, here’s the thing … terrorism is better subject matter. Multiple terrorists = even better subject matter. Then the film gets to decide what individual lines a terrorist will or will not cross. The film gets more engaging when one terrorist will cross a line that another will not. There seemed to be several lines that Ammer Ajar would not cross. Even his best tool, a
suicide vest “capable of taking the entire block” was suspect at best … and Ammar rarely held a trigger; he mostly seemed content with threat at gunpoint.
Either this screenplay lacked imagination, or this sort of thing is so uncommon abroad that it will seem suspenseful to non-American audiences. In either case, this is a very good example of how fiction beats reality soundly. For all the bluster and contrivance, fake American hostage films are, in general, far more suspenseful than iHostage, no offense intended to real-life Ilian; I’m sure in the moment it felt very life-threatening and tense. But Hans Gruber made me believe a lot of people were gonna die in the Nakatomi that day. And a lot did.
A man with a gun found an Apple
He’d have done better to use force in a chapel
For the minute he’d scream
It was a security dream
With just one lone hostage to grapple
Rated TV-MA, 100 Minutes
Director: Bobby Boermans
Writer: Bobby Boermans, Simon de Waal
Genre: Stuff that might have an impact in non-violent countries
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Dutch policemen, I imagine
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “That’s all you got?”
