Hunter Killer (2018)

[baumer]

Discuss

[SteveJaros]

Saw "Hunter Killer" today.

 

Basically, if you liked a movie like "Skyscraper" or "The Meg" a few months ago, you might like this. Cheesy by the numbers action movie, every plot twist visible from a mile away, except without a big star like The Rock or an irresistible critter like a 80 foot prehistoric shark to chew up the scenery and budget.

 

Or generate box office.

 

Edited October 26, 2018 by SteveJaros

[ScoobyDoo21]

Watch U-571 instead.

Edited October 31, 2018 by ScoobyDoo21

[Webslinger]

Such a non-entity that: a.) I'm not even going to bother with giving my usual form of review; b.) I'm probably going to forget that I saw it; and c.) I'm kinda thinking that plus in the grade might be a gift.

 

It feels like barely anyone here is trying. Common and Linda Cardellini do their best with the scraps they're given, but they're barely in the movie. Gary Oldman also appears to kinda-sorta try while picking up a quick paycheck. But everyone else? Boring, boring, boring. I'm not the biggest fan of most of Gerard Butler's filmography, but at least he's charismatic in most of his other performances; he's just on autopilot here.

 

The CGI also usurps the laughably fake CGI lava in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom as the worst in any theatrical release this year. All the computer-generated material here looks hideously fake.

 

Really, though, there's no more telling sign that no one really cared about this movie than the fact that the opening studio logo marks it as a production of Lionsgate Premiere - a direct-to-DVD wing of Lionsgate. Between the bad CGI, the name actors who seem like they're just here to pick up a paycheck, a narrative that never gains momentum or goes in any vaguely interesting direction (and a completely uninvolving subplot with some Navy SEALS), and a few telltale signs that this was clearly shot a while ago and sat on the shelf (namely: the fact that the U.S. president is female and the fact that not a lick of the real U.S.-Russia tension of the last two years is ever alluded to), it FEELS every bit like a direct-to-DVD mess.

 

But I didn't have to pay for my ticket and my dad enjoyed it, so there's that. (*Shrugs*)

 

D+

[baumer]

One of the most entertaining and well paced and scripted films of the year.

 

This film takes it time to build up the tension, it does it well especially when thing start to build up you get a sense of world war 3 is about to happen, it all starts with a simple unknown attack on a Russian and American sub, from there this film kicks in to overdrive and the tension builds between the Russian and American naval fleet that gives you a real sense of disaster.  

Ever since he uttered the immortal line "We Are Sparta" as King Leonidas in the 2006 surprise hit 300, Gerard Butler has filled the screen with machismo and virility. So I was expecting just more of the same when I went to check out the submarine flick HUNTER KILLER, figuring it was just a "B" action flick with Butler throwing up macho line after macho line and punching anyone who was in his way.

But...HUNTER KILLER is, surprisingly, much, much more.

Telling the story of a "Hunter Killer" submarine under a new captain that must go into enemy territory to check out the sinking of another American submarine, this adept action-thriller by South African Director Donovan Marsh is a pleasant surprise for only 1/2 of the film is about the action aboard the submarine, or the action back at HQ where a screaming Gary Oldman insists on less diplomacy and more aggressive action. The other part of the film is a very gripping, tense and exciting "behind enemy lines" war flick following the exploits of 4 Special Ops members (led by Toby Stephens) who must grab a person and then unite with the submarine.

Colour me shocked by this. While Butler and Oldman gave me exactly what I wanted, the Special Ops soldiers, the stakes and the action sequences are a notch above your every day effort. If you are looking for a fun action flick, that can easily pass a few hours on a rainy and cold Saturday afternoon, you could do much, much worse than this one.  The first half of the film takes its time getting into the story.  The last half is hold your breath action with dire consequences in the balance.  

 

Hunter Killer is one of my favourite films of the year.

 

9/10