Movie Reviews: Hunter Killer (2018)

Man, the left is going to hate this film! Hunter Killer is a good, old-fashioned movie about manly men facing a situation they may not return home from. They even kill off characters in the film, making it uncertain who will make it to the end. Tough calls. Tough talk. Respect for the enemy.

Hunter Killer is an American action thriller directed by Donovan March and written by Arne Schmidt and Jamie Moss. It stars Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Common, Linda Cardellini, and Toby Stephens. It was made on a budget of $40 million and released on October 26, 2018. It runs 121 minutes.

The film tells three stories coinciding around the disappearance of a U.S. submarine in Russian waters. As the investigation unfolds the spector of World War III begins to threaten the world!

This movie was pretty friggin' good.

The first story centers on the newly-promoted Commander Joe Glass (Gerard Butler), assigned to the USS Arkansas to investigate the disappearance. Glass is an unconventional leader willing to conduct submarine warfare on a knife's edge.

The second story centers on the American nerve center tasked with handling the dangerous developing situation. Personalities compete between Rear Admiral Charles Donnegan (Garry Oldman), Rear Admiral John Fisk (Common), and NSA Senior Analyst Jayne Norquist (Linda Cardellini).

The country has got caught up in the middle of something. Can Gary Oldman and Common save us?

Was attacking this Russian submarine the right move? Or did we fall into someone's trap?

And the last main story centers on the U.S. Navy SEAL team sent in to examine the odd movements of the Russian president. But soon their observation mission develops into a situation they may not return home from.

The Lowdown

A lot of modern thrillers suffer from story-telling problems like hiccups in the narrative or cringe moments. You can usually get an idea in the first ten minutes how good the film will be by watching out for those problems. The film didn't start out with Gerard Butler, but I knew Gerard Butler would comprise the main story and the film's success would depend on how well it carried the film.

And, fellas, Gerard knocked this home. Not only did he give a good performance right away, they even treated us to a manly speech as his character took charge of the submarine before they went out on the mission. I didn't realize it at the time, but this is one of those old-fashioned true grit movies about men handling problems not by being lone wolves but working together as a team to take on an immensely greater problem.

Martinelli is the private in the classic Sergeant-Private relationship. Until his knees get blown off.

There is also a lot of respect between the people they're fighting in the film. You remember that from old Grand Pappy Sun Tzu, don't you? Respect your enemies?

This was a fantatic thriller that created tense situations and held you there for the entire scene wondering if they would make it through. A submarine sneaking through mindfields. Dodging torpedoes not because they're faster than the torpedo but using what's little available in the ocean to outhink the mindless killing machine.

I think they meant to imply this as Hillary Clinton. Except this person is reasonable.

An entire war fought from a few rooms on one boat. They somehow managed to keep up the tension with this limited setting.

Damn, I was expecting some narrative problems and some pacing problems. This movie put you in the seat and carried you all the way to the end. It even ended appropriately, not keeping you aboard long than necessary, but not leaving any loose ends for the audience to wonder about. It was a complete narrative and that was fucking nice.

And, like always, Gary Oldman disappears into his role and gives it everything he's got. Commissioner Gordon? Dracula? Winston Churchill? Sirius Black? I swear Oldman is capable of playing anyone. Anyone? Well, I really mean: EVERYONE!

The movie doesn't shy away from killing off characters. Who will live and who will die?

None of the characters in the film are one-dimensional either. Not only do they have conflicts of emotions, but they also grow in ways appropriate to the story. Nothing feels forced even though you recognize some character development stories from other films. This was some classic story-telling done well.

Interesting Tidbits

It is based on the 2012 novel, Firing Point by Don Keith and George Wallace. I haven't read the novel but now I'm tempted to.

It is also the last role of Michael Nyqvist. It took me a while to remember where I've seen him before; turns out he was Michael Blomkvist in the Swedish Girl with a Dragon Tattoo movies. He was also in John Wick as the mob boss. He seemed to be a bit old to retire. And he's certainly talented. I'm bummed.

Michael Nykvist died less than a year after completing the film due to lung cancer. Always one to give an excellent performance. This film is no exception.

After some research, it turned out he died in June 2017 at age 56. The cause: lung cancer. Damn. But that also means he was burning the midnight oil during his last role. Godspeed; you died too young, Michael.

The Final Verdict

I don't know what the critics are smoking on this one. As I sat in the theater not a single person was unhappy with the film. Numerous people were surprised by the film, stating openly during the feature: "This is good!" But get this: Rotten Tomatoes critics score the film at 36% while audiences overwhelmingly like it at 86%! IMDb scores it at just 6.9/10 based on 2,293 reviews. That many reviews really scored it that low? But Metacritic scored it even lower at 42/100. Are these people smoking crack?

Man, I dug it. Been a while since I've seen a solid action thriller that didn't have any story problems. I give it a good recommendation at 4.0 out of 5.0 stars! I wasn't disappointed at all at any point in the film. They really balanced the story and the action well. This is a movie I won't hesitate to watch more than once. It's probably going to do well on platforms like Netflix.

What is wrong with the critics, Gerard Butler asks. Have they forgotten what makes good movies?

Actually, you know what I think it is? This is a very manly movie with a lot of balanced, rational manly dialogue about facing the fear of the thing they're involved with, even if it costs their lives, but doing it because it must be done. It's about making tough decisions. Given how anti-man the left is right now, I'm pretty sure that is why critics are voting it so low. This is too much manly testosterone for the left. All their soy is curdling in proximity to this movie.