Today I'm reviewing the 2018 drama/thriller film Hunter Killer, directed by Donovan Marsh and stars Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Linda Cardellini, Michael Nyqvist, and Common. American submarine Captain Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) is on the hunt for a U.S. sub in distress in the Arctic Ocean. He soon learns that a secret Russian coup is taking place, threatening to destroy the world. With his crew and the country on the line, Glass must assemble an elite group of Navy SEALs to sneak into enemy territory to save the Russian president and prevent World War 3. I'll admit, I was dreading in watching this film. I wasn't pleased with the trailers whatsoever. Upon seeing it, as expected, this film wasn't good at all. Pros: The cast was just there, but not terrible. While the entire film was mostly trash, I'll admit the last 10 minutes did pretty well with the tension. I also thought the Navy SEALS team on land fire fights weren't too bad. Cons: Where do I begin? While I said the cast was there, I do feel like Gerard Butler needs to start choosing his roles. It seems to me that the last 4 years, he keeps picking some pretty crappy roles, aside from Den of Thieves. I'm pretty shocked Gary Oldman chose to do this film. He's too far of a good actor for something like this. Most of all, I feel bad for Michael Nyqvist. This was his final film he was involved in before his death. The plot is pretty standard and boring. It felt like something you would find in a $5 bin at Walmart. It tries to be a 90's action film, but done in a terrible way. The CGI was probably some of the worst I've seen all in 2018. I'm talking as if the Syfy channel tried to do a action film. It was pretty damn cringe-worthy. There wasn't much of a standout villain either. It's Russians obviously, but they don't go into any type of detail why they're trying to do a military coup. My biggest complaint, WHY DO FILMS HAVE FOREIGN COUNTRIES SPEAK PERFECT ENGLISH?! Am I supposed to believe Russians speak perfect English and not their native language? What makes it worse is the Russian president has an American accent! Then the last 10 minutes he suddenly has a Russian accent and they finally decide to use the Russian language. Like I said earlier, I was pretty bored with this film to the point I either was playing on my phone or I was playing catch with my pen. It's a shame that it gets enjoyable in the last 10 minutes, but the film was already trash throughout the entire movie . If you want a good submarine/war film, try watching The Hunt for Red October or U-571. I don't know why I put myself through this sh*t sometimes. I don't recommend this movie. It avoids a flatline due to the cast not being as bad as I thought they were going to be and the last 10 minutes were pretty good with the tension.
Final Grade:
What were your thoughts on this film? Leave me a comment below and I'll see you in my next review.