270.
Hunter Killer
6.5/10
Back to some good old-fashioned 'popcorn action' for the letter, H. Hunter Killer brings yet another mission for Gerard Butler and this guy's mission log and job description involves everything. What a CV! We've seen him in space, leading the Spartans, protecting the American President and now we are going to see him take charge of a submarine. When you think of a film that Butler will be starring in, you know it won't be short of action and most of the time, over the top action, so only God knows what was going to be in store for me. Also withing the cast was one of my favourite actors in Gary Oldman and I wasn't sure which kind of role he was going to be playing. He was played hero and villain well when called upon so let's get to depth and see what's in store.
After an American sub gets attacked in the seas near Russia and retaliation means that we have casualties on both sides, there is only one man set to be called in to get to the bottom of what is going on.
The Rear Admiral, played by the rapper turned actor Common, calls in Joe Glass, Gerard Butler. He's known for his unorthodox approaches but they know he will get the job done. At the same time, we have a Navy SEAL team sent in behind possible enemy lines to observe the Russian Naval base. One of the men, Martinelli, is injured during HALO drop and we already know he's had a hard time through training, so my guess is he will come back and save the day somehow. As they arrive at the base, they witness the Russian President being overthrown by the Admiral of the Fleet and his bodyguard is shot and dumped into the water. The gang is nearly found through a stray signal and after the Russians spray a few bullets at their location, only Martinelli is hit, once again, poor bloke.
Back on the sub, they discover the destroyed American sub but also come across the Russian sub which has evidence that the damage actually came from the inside. Receiving signs of life, they move in to take the remaining crew and Russian Captain as their prisoners of war until they know anything further. During this, they are actually attacked by another Russian sub but this time, it's a rogue until that caused the carnage in the first place.
It is now a race against time to prove to the public that America did not attack the Russians as the new leader of the Russian Navy is trying to say that America has attacked them on their soil, so to speak and now they must act fast. Admiral Charles played by Gary Oldman is the usual guy in the forces that you can find in every movie of this genre. He's the gung ho leader or wants to make sure that they are ready for war by positioning correctly and even going to throw the first punch. This plan is actually taken up by the President, to an extent but she's also interested in the Rear Admiral's idea. He would like their ground team to try and get the Russian President out of the area and on to a screen where he can tell the truth. Glass is therefore told to move the sub into the port, which is full of mines. This is where the Russian captain comes in to play. Finally believing what truly happened under the water, he agrees to navigate the sub along with Glass, even if the crew doesn't like Glass's methods. The SEALs take casualties as they get the president but Martinelli sniping from the trees help in the retreat as they get to the water's edge and get the President on board.
In on final standoff between the two countries fleets, up pops the sub right in the middle. It takes some damage from the Russian ship but the Russian captain who was saved knows these men and can appeal to them to overthrow their new Captain on this day. They succeed in doing so and on land, the Russian Admiral is now getting desperate, he sends some missiles in the direction of the sub carrying his President but the Russian ship's anti-missile gun has other plans. From there, they send their own missiles at their former Admiral and end the conflict so that everyone can go home. That's exactly what they do, everyone quickly gives some respect and the Rear Admiral is even commended by the hot-headed Admiral back in the US. I guess Gerard is off to find out what else he can tick off as a job role.
Just like every other Gerard Butler movie, he has to come out of it as the hero and this was not an exception. This storyline followed most directions that I could have guessed before even clicking play. Butler was always going to be the hard-ass leader who was brought in to not play by the rules and to get the win in any way necessary. Although you know it was going to be a happy ending, but we still have the journey to get us there. With the story going on within the sub, as soon as the plan was in motion we were never going to see the Russians betray our team. This then translates to moments of suspense, just like the stand-off at the end, but you always know that the 'good guys' aren't going to be blown up. Just once I want this to happen to spice up the genre. Maybe the audience won't be left satisfied but for me, it'll be something new. I suppose with one of the popcorn action movies, we don't need something too complex but at least it wasn't as unbelievable as something like Geostorm.
You come to know what to expect from Butler as an actor and this again was no different. Loud and proud as a leader, he is happy to be proven wrong but after he sees out his actions. I'm pretty sure I'd follow the guy into battle. Everyone else was alright but nothing stand-out apart from Gary Oldman but I could be biased as he is one of my favourite actors. This time he had to play the missile happy Admiral who wanted to go full throttle into a war rather than listening to other ideas. By the end, it was nice of his character to pretty much admit that he was wrong and give out the respect deserved rather than sulking in the background.
You can go into this movie with a couple a needs and possibly come out fulfilled. Action movie? Tick. Decent storyline? Tick. A way to pass some time? Tick. The movie isn't in any way a current style war classic but it does have a sense of tension and realism that the US and Russia already have some of these issues when they have to escort subs or aircraft out of their area. I do recommend this compared to some of the other Butler movies that he throws his name towards but don't sprint to turn it on, don't even jog. If Netflix tells you, ' you watched this, you might like this,' give it a go.
