Hunter Killer - a review!
What do you get when you take Gerard Butler, Michael Nyqvist, Gary Oldman and Common and put them in a spy thriller?The answer is a movie, that has a great premise, but somewhat lacks a bit of a punch, to make it into a home run, and it comes across as a bit boring. The story is relatively straight forward: An untested submarine captain named Joe Glass, played by Gerard Butler, assumes command of the USS Arkansas, and he is told that the USS Tampa Bay has been lost in the Arctic. At the same time, a Russian general stages a coup against the Russian President, so now it is up to Glass to stage a rescue operation with some badass Navy Seals, in order to free the President, and fix everything.
I hadn't seen ANY marketing for this movie, only the posters, hanging in my local cinema, so I had my assumptions. If a movie doesn't have any marketing, then it's probably a bit terrible. But I am a big fan of Gerard Butler, and I love submarine thrillers, so I had to see it. I was excited, because Gerard Butler in an action film guarantees a good time.. Just not this time around.
It doesn't spare anything regarding the action. There are shootouts, explosions and exciting bits, but that's about it, really. There is also a TON of CGI work, and you'd think that we in 2018 can make decent submarine CGI, and that you could make explosions look amazing in CGI, but no! The special effect- and visual effect team really dropped the ball on this one, particularly towards the end.
Acting wise, well it has its moments. Gary Oldman is great as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Donnegan, and Gerard Butler is great as Joe Glass. Other actors worth mentioning is Toby Stephens as Bill Beaman, the leader of the Navy Seals. He is a no nonsense, hardcore soldier, who enjoys going into battle and killing. The reason why I think he is worthy of a mention, is that he is SUPPOSED to be a hardcore badass, but he just ends up being a parody of every war-hungry team leader.
Common is also doing a decent job as RADM John Fisk, but it is clear, that he isn't suitable for military parts. He is more suited for secondary parts or even third degree parts.
All-in-all, it's a sub-par film, that is forgotten very quickly. The only stand out thing about this movie is Michael Nyqvist, Gary Oldman and Gerard Butler. If you are thinking about seeing it, wait until it is out on dvd.
Rating: 3/10