Movie review: 'Hunter Killer' blasts through over-the-top action, cliched plot
“Hunter Killer” - ★ ★
There are so many good movies in theaters right now - thoughtful, artistic, well-acted films that studios save for this time of year with the distant hope of Oscar gold. The Gerard Butler submarine movie “Hunter Killer” is not one of those movies. It's bombastic and garish, ridden with clichés, preposterous politics and frenetic, video game energy. And it is so often unintentionally silly that it's actually kind of fun.
In Gerard Butler parlance, “Hunter Killer” is the “London Has Fallen” of submarine movies, genetically engineered in a lab to entrance the nation's dads in basic cable reruns for next 25 years.
The film starts out confusingly. An American submarine is torpedoed by a Russian sub in Russian waters, but back in the U.S., all they know is it's disappeared, and they've got to find it. The man for the job, Rear Admiral John Fisk (Common) concludes, is Captain Joe Glass (Butler), who we're told is not like the other guys. He “never went to Annapolis.” Why that makes him especially qualified for this mission remains a mystery, other than the fact that he'll readily disobey orders and go rogue at any opportunity.
We meet him in the middle of nowhere, in snowy terrain about to shoot a CGI buck across a glassy lake with a bow and arrow. But then he sees its CGI family close by and decides to lower his weapon. This moment lets the audience know a few things: a) That Joe Glass has empathy and b) that this movie has no subtlety. The next thing we know a military helicopter is swooping down to pick him up and take him to his sub.
Their mission gets even more puzzling, as a Russian sub hidden in the crevasse of an iceberg starts firing on them. Back in the U.S., NSA worker Jayne Norquist (Linda Cardellini, one of three women in this film), decides Fisk needs to send a ground team (Toby Stephens, Michael Trucco, Zane Holt and Glen Ellyn's Ryan McPartlin) to Russia. It all eventually comes together when they realize that there's been a coup on the Russian president, but why anyone makes any of these decisions prior to this is baffling to say the least. Also no one seems to be able to communicate with anyone else, like when Captain Glass decides to save a Russian captain played by the late Michael Nyqvist, except in an extremely pivotal moment that makes you wonder why no one did this earlier.
Diplomacy really goes out the window when the Americans decide - against the protest of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Donnegan (Gary Oldman) - their best option is to rescue the Russian president and not tell anyone about it.
Based on the book “Firing Point,” this is the first Hollywood film from South African director Donovan Marsh. He cooks up some captivating action set pieces, which may have you laughing, rolling your eyes or cheering, but “Hunter Killer” is never boring.
<b>Starring:</b> Gerard Butler, Common, Linda Cardellini, Gary Oldman, Michael Nyqvis, Ryan McPartlin
<b>Directed by:</b> Donovan Marsh
<b>Other:</b> A Summit Entertainment release. Rated R for violence and language. 120 minutes