Hunter Killer - Movie Review

After seeing the blockbusters released over the past couple of weeks, I was down to several second-tier films to choose from yesterday. There are a couple I just don't care to see, which left few options. I settled on the latest Gerard Butler film, Hunter Killer. The movie has a Tom Clancy vibe with a stomach-able 7.0 rating on IMDb currently. With two films left on my AMC AList subscription, I had to choose one, so Hunter Killer it was.

Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) is not your typical Annapolis-class Captain. Glass came up through the ranks, spending his entire career on submarines. He is appointed by Admiral John Fisk (Common) to command a submarine that will soon be engaged in a game of cat and mouse with the Russians. A coup in Russia leads to the sinking of a US sub. Glass is sent to respond while a team of Navy SEALs are deployed to get eyes and ears on the ground to determine what is happening. As the coup becomes evident, Glass must figure out how to avert World War III. The SEALs are sent to rescue the Russian president, Zakarin (Alexander Diachenko). A daring rescue attempt, a US ship in Soviet waters and the US Fleet heading toward Russia have the world positioned on the brink of war. It will take nerves of steel, a lot of trust and a little bit of luck to avoid triggering all out war.

Hunter Killer is a bit far-fetched. It is convoluted and leaves quite a bit to chance. At the same time, the film was action-packed and intriguing. I was engaged with the film even when it felt like a knock off Tom Clancy. The characters were a bit flat, particularly the XO (Carter MacIntyre), who is meant to add a dimension of stress to the situation. His character came off as lacking credibility. The story had great pacing and an interesting narrative arc. The film set up some nice fight sequences both on land as well as on sea. It was engaging enough to hold my interest and entertain me. It could have been much worse.

Hunter Killer was adapted from a book called Firing Point written by Don Keith and George Wallace, who was a submarine commander in real life. Wallace lent credibility to the story, which was laced with naval language and customs. I wasn't paying that close attention to the lexicon, as it wasn't woven into the script with any excess. But there were times where the hand of an actual naval commander was evident. As a Marine veteran, I am ingrained with the vernacular of the navy. So some of it may have slipped past my conscious mind as well. The casting for the film was interesting. I'm not a big fan of Gerard Butler. He has done some decent films I have reviewed on Steemit: Den of Thieves, Coriolanus and Geostorm are among the films I have reviewed. Butler was solid in this role. Oldman was an interesting choice for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (considering he is British). I wasn't loving Common as Rear Admiral Fisk. The casting of the Navy SEALs was solid. They seemed legit, although their dialogue was a bit flat. The casting was solid enough to carry this film and create some tension and strong action sequences.

The MPAA rated Hunter Killer with an R rating. There are several executions and numerous battle scenes. The battle scenes are pretty intense and mildly bloody. I think that was the primary factor in this rating. The film also had some strong language including an F-bomb from the Russian sub commander. But primarily, the rating seemed to be tied to the contextual violence which is prevalent throughout the film. As a military-themed film, war violence is expected. The Russian coup also included violence. All of the violence was contextual and possibly less gory than your average first-person shooter video game. For that reason, I think I would suspend attaching an age rating to this film. It wasn't the type of film that causes nightmares and the violence makes sense within the story. The film has a run time of two hours, two minutes. It honestly felt shorter than that. A good sign.

Hunter Killer is imperfect. The dialogue is off at times, the story is contrived and the idea is far-fetched. But I enjoyed it. As pure entertainment, the film offered strong pacing, an interesting concept and great action sequences. The combination of air and land maneuvers added a bit of flavor to the film as well. The political aspects of the story felt stilted at times, but overall, I found I enjoyed the action. Ultimately, that is the reason I go to the theater. To be entertained. At its core, Hunter Killer was entertaining. It felt derivative, but it also had value in the story it offered. I am in agreement with IMDb. Worth a matinee viewing. 7/10.