STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful
Rookie sergeant Kenney (Liam Hemsworth) is assigned, along with the rest of his unit, to infiltrate an enemy stronghold and rescue a valuable asset. Behind the scenes, Captain Eddie 'Grim' Reaper (Russell Crowe), a civilian contractor and drone operator, attempts to guide him along, whilst being on edge over getting a call from his pregnant wife.
Director William Eubank's military action thriller has arrived on Amazon Prime, with little in the way of fanfare or publicity. Headlining Liam Hemsworth, in a role that could have spun directly off from his Extraction franchise, along with his brother Luke in a supporting role, it's a largely formulaic and by the numbers affair, spouting off cliches from other films, notably Predator, The Fugitive, and even a scene where a character riffs on Burt Reynolds's legendary 'technology will take us over' speech from Deliverance, but is never pretentious enough to think it's anything more than that.
Performances wise, Hemsworth sort of just melts into his lead role, certainly a convincing action man, who manages some decent hand to hand, close up fight sequences. But the real star of the show is co star Crowe, who seems to be contending with Steven Seagal in the 'most weight gained since heyday' stakes, and now seems to be settled in to his elder statesman role, as a man trying not to allow the minor irritations around him to rile him while he operates under intense pressure at work and from home, whilst projecting an inner calm and charisma with those around him.
It's certainly not the most original or unforgettable thing you'll ever see, but there are some pleasingly decent action sequences and visual sequences to help you make it through the two hour runtime. And Crowe. ***
Rookie sergeant Kenney (Liam Hemsworth) is assigned, along with the rest of his unit, to infiltrate an enemy stronghold and rescue a valuable asset. Behind the scenes, Captain Eddie 'Grim' Reaper (Russell Crowe), a civilian contractor and drone operator, attempts to guide him along, whilst being on edge over getting a call from his pregnant wife.
Director William Eubank's military action thriller has arrived on Amazon Prime, with little in the way of fanfare or publicity. Headlining Liam Hemsworth, in a role that could have spun directly off from his Extraction franchise, along with his brother Luke in a supporting role, it's a largely formulaic and by the numbers affair, spouting off cliches from other films, notably Predator, The Fugitive, and even a scene where a character riffs on Burt Reynolds's legendary 'technology will take us over' speech from Deliverance, but is never pretentious enough to think it's anything more than that.
Performances wise, Hemsworth sort of just melts into his lead role, certainly a convincing action man, who manages some decent hand to hand, close up fight sequences. But the real star of the show is co star Crowe, who seems to be contending with Steven Seagal in the 'most weight gained since heyday' stakes, and now seems to be settled in to his elder statesman role, as a man trying not to allow the minor irritations around him to rile him while he operates under intense pressure at work and from home, whilst projecting an inner calm and charisma with those around him.
It's certainly not the most original or unforgettable thing you'll ever see, but there are some pleasingly decent action sequences and visual sequences to help you make it through the two hour runtime. And Crowe. ***