Prejudices aside, ‘Hunter Killer’ is worth watching

If you are into Navy films then you most probably have caught the trailer of (and maybe even watched) Hunter Killer.

Captain Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) is a stern but reserved submarine captain who is sent on a mission to rescue a U.S submarine in distress in the Arctic Ocean. Their search leads them to the wreckage where, the team finds proof that the ship was torpedoed in what could only be described as an act of war by the Russians.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is ready to respond to this act of war in kind, despite some reservations by Admiral John Fisk (Common), whose uniform was the only thing that made him relevant here.

Only the level headedness of Captain Glass and his critical thinking prevents the start of another war, as it later becomes clear that a Russian Submarine was also sabotaged and sunk.

What follows is the realisation that there is a conspiracy for a coup in Russia where a rogue defence minister has kidnapped the president (The Russian president here is portrayed as a very nice chap surprisingly, played by) it is up to Captain Glass and some navy SEALS to save the day.

It is neither my intention nor my place to make excuses for this film but after watching movies like Last Resort and Last Ship my level of expectation was quite high and I was sadly disappointed.

SOMETHING MISSING

The plot has so much potential but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. Maybe it was the lack of show of emotion by Butler who as the main character sets the mood.

Or the lack of background information about the Captain which would help understand what makes him make the choices he does, the writers could certainly have done more.

I would be remiss if I do not warn those like me who are considering this movie with the hope of seeing some Marine warfare between submarines and warships to find something else as this part of the action takes about ten minutes for the whole movie.

It is not however all gloom. The film has employed a number of cinematic techniques like where the crew all seemed to be leaning back when the submarine does a deep dive; epic!

The lack of marine warfare was substituted by action on Land where the SEALS under the command of Lieutenant Bill Beaman attempted to rescue the Russian president and take on the rogue Russian military soldiers.

Complete with HALO drops and some nice headshots this is an action movie worth watching as long as you rid yourself of all prejudice, lower your expectations and ignore the mild similarities to others in the sub-genre of marine-warfare stories (whether this was intentional or not is debatable).

***

Do you have feedback on this article? Please email: [email protected]