Hunter Killer Review
Firstly, we’re going to start by saying that overall we found Hunter Killer to be an enjoyable film with an exciting plot and strong cast. There’s nothing in here that will completely blow you away and nothing really new either, but it knows exactly what it wants to be and delivers pretty spectacularly on all those fronts.
The cast is, frankly, better than you would expect from this type of film normally and that means it isn’t just left to Gerard Butler to carry the entire premise. Gary Oldman and Linda Cardellini deliver great performances as the political players in this modern version of the Cold War action/intrigue genre that have remained popular decades after the end of that period of history. While it isn’t quite vintage Gary Oldman, his role as Admiral Charles Donnegan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, perfectly shows another facet of his highly lauded acting prowess and Cardellini stands out as NSA Senior Analyst Jayne Norquist.
Butler, however, remains the clear star of the show as the slightly questionably named ‘Captain Joe Glass’ and takes his regular role as a seemingly-reluctant hero who has to go against his orders to make sure the world is saved. He does this almost entirely from the bottom of the ocean without leaving his submarine, resulting in most of his action scenes being exterior shots of underwater submarine combat, which are well-filmed and accompanied by a score that really ratchets up the tension. These elements come together to create a loving callback to some of the old stalwarts of submarine films, like Das Boot, Crimson Tide, and The Hunt for Red October.
The story of Captain Glass is only one-third of the film though as the previous mentioned Oldman and Cardellini spar over whether or not Butler’s character is in the right. There is also a third entirely separate story of a land-rescue mission carried out by Special Forces badass, Bill Beaman. Played by Toby Stephens, Beaman fills the more stereotypical action movie role as he and his team forge forward to rescue the Russian President (played by Alexander Diachenko). This part of the film will be much more familiar to viewers as the SEAL team is your standard mix of wise-cracking All-American heroes who deliver insults to each other as they progress through the increasingly hostile territory as a means to break the tension.
All three stories are weaved together to give a coherent if slightly complicated view of what could otherwise have been another limp rescue story that gets churned out about 20 times a year in lieu of actual blockbuster action films. By showing the political manoeuvring on two different fronts as well as action on two fronts, with Butler’s role and submarine being the crossing point, the film lifts itself above its fellow action movie alumni while still delivering all the action and one-liners you want and expect.
Overall, the film was a great way to spend the evening. While slightly lacking in places, Hunter Killer delivers everything you want and expect, in addition to a few welcome surprises.The movie is delivered by an excellent cast who were clearly led by a director that knew how to get the best out of them. All-in-all, we give Hunter Killer a solid 8/10.
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We hope you enjoyed our Hunter Killer review and it has made you consider giving the film a watch. If you enjoyed reading it, then you can look forward to our review of ‘Infinite’ with Mark Wahlberg when it comes out in August 2020. We supplied Lowa boots for this movie too.
Hunter Killer and Infinite are not the only productions that you should be able to spot LOWA boots in. Not only can they be found in movies like the 2015 Sean Penn film ‘The Gunman’ and 2016’s ’Criminal’ with Kevin Cosner, but you will also see them in documentary TV shows like ‘Kings Of The Wild’, ‘Ed Stafford: Into The Unknown’, ‘Joel Lambert: Manhunt’, and ‘Bear Grylls: Escape From Hell’.
