Hunter Killer

I actually have no complaints here. Because the Czech distributor changed the title to the same title Deep Blue Sea has, I at first thought this was a remake of a 20-year-old action movie of the same name featuring a huge shark, so I was pleasantly surprised that this is actually a film about a submarine. Too bad that the action movies produced by Hollywood these days lack the soul they used to have in the 1980s and 1990s. There’s a lot of action scenes, the cast is alright, but something is amiss. The best moments were those featuring Michael Nyqvist as the Russian captain Andropov; his charisma added some charm which increased the film’s overall quality a little. Too bad this talented actor passed away. (23.07.2019)

Warum Gary Oldman in diesem C-Movie die Rolle des Dick Cheney übernommen hat, stellt ungefähr ein ebenso großes Rätsel dar wie jenes, was Andrej Babiš Junior auf der Krim getan hat. Manchmal bekommen wir den Eindruck, dass er einfach vorbeiging und eine Uniform ausgehändigt bekam, etwas dahingestummelt, die Hand gereicht hatte und einfach fort ging. Gerard Butler hat bereits aus dieser maskulinen Parodie von sich selbst ein Gewerbe gemacht, so dass mir seine machohomoerotischen Etüden eigentlich ganz gut tun. Es fehlt ihnen an einem echten Schurken wie Michael Nyqvist, dem Putin so langsam die Staatsbürgerschaft verleihen sollte. Ja, es ist der Russe. Was nun. Der tschechische Fernsehsender TV Barrandov kauft gerade diese Art an Filmen ein, jedoch die hiesigen Effekte fallen noch schlimmer aus. Die Russen sprechen eine Weile in gebrochenem Russisch, dann wiederum eine Weile gebrochenes Englisch, Toby Stephens verläuft sich irgendwo in Benghasi und findet sich selbst am Set in Poljarny, das Drehbuch hat wiederum Tom Clancys stupider Bruder geschrieben und Donovan Marsh hat ein einzigartiges Gespür für grässliche Greenscreens und raubt in einer Szene Gareth Edwards´ Godzilla frevellos aus. Jedenfalls handelt es sich hierbei um einen Film, in dem U-Boote ab- und auftauchen, Steine um eine Rasierklingenbreite meiden oder sich einer Unterwasserminenmassage unterziehen. Ich kann nicht weniger als drei Sterne vergeben, denn wenn ich vom lethargischen Zentrum ablasse, ist es tatsächlich ein lustiger Mumpitz, der mental auf eine 90er Jahre-Mine aufgelaufen ist. (21.11.2018)

I wasn't impressed by the trailer and I admire submarines, but I don't really like movies on this topic, so in the end I'm very pleasantly surprised by how brisk and entertaining Hunter Killer is. Gerard Butler is solid as the captain and I enjoyed the underwater attacks, which are very suspenseful though rather mediocrely filmed. The rescue of the Russian President was also good. I enjoyed myself immensely and didn't expect more here. I can't remember a more entertaining submarine movie, I'll gladly round up. 70% (04.01.2019)

An old-school submarine encounter between the Soviets and the Yanks, but filmed in a modern style with agility and enthusiasm.  Butler is an unbelievably likable guy here and Nyqvist was also impressive in one of his last roles. It's a bit of a shame that there is not a more well-developed villain. That wide-eyed jerk in the peaked cap deserves to be ripped apart by Toby Stephens for being so boring. Even so, Hunter Killer is a well-made thriller in the style of Clancy and is more than just a good bit of light entertainment. P.S. This movie was banned in Russia. (11.07.2019)

The most masculine submarine movie since K19, with a macho Butler, a whiny Oldman, a charismatic Common and Nyqvist. Add to that a couple of Navy Seals, some solid firefights, superbly photographed locations and underwater battles and it doesn’t matter that the script was written by someone at the weekend over a beer. After all, this is all about showing off hi-tech American military toys and patting themselves on the back for how well it all turned out. Overall, it’s charismatic, fast, clear and not too smart; it’s bearable. (03.02.2019)

This at least could have used a better director and special effects that didn't look like a video game, since the script is so ridiculous and the actors are boring (definitely don't watch Hunter Killer because of Gary Oldman, you'll be disappointed). This game didn't work out for Tom Clancy. (14.07.2019)

Well there you go, they did quietly make a Call of Duty movie after all. All they had to do was change the name, use Beaman instead of Captain Price, Martinelli instead of Soap, and that was it. Otherwise, it's got all the ingredients I'd expect from a film adaptation of that militant franchise. There are the changes of viewpoint, where one day we're in a nuclear submarine in the midst of a minefield, another time a sniper shielding his buddies, and yet another time a member of a special forces unit out to rescue the President. We run into iconic sequences from the video game series, such as wildly sliding down a concrete slope on your ass, an opening shooting warm-up with fake targets and a time limit, or a camera zooming out of the ground into the stratosphere where a military drone is on the prowl. So, too, does it retain the detached psychology of the characters, where you know almost nothing beyond the conflict (and the film self-consciously hints at this sympathetically a couple of times), and the distrust of the meritorious high command that the guys in the field have to defy at the right moment in order to do the right thing. Like the entire Call of Duty franchise, Hunter Killer is mainly an army-fetishistic, macho, and idiotic story that is irresistibly entertaining from start to finish. (20.02.2019)

So, once again proof that the current spate of action movies starring Gerard Butler are not exactly of the highest quality. I have nothing against the visuals of this movie, but I haven't encountered a dumber script in a long time. And to make matters worse, everyone applauded at the end. (45%) (10.05.2022)