"Time's up, send em' in". That's right, send in the paperweight villains who walk like stodgy storm troopers just waiting for the slaughter. Said villains enter an abandon building with lots of ammo and sensors in 2020's Hard Kill (my latest review).
Now is Hard Kill full of bullet-ridden shootouts that seem repetitive and kind of presumptuous? You betcha. And is "Kill" a film in which the hero (Jesse Metcalfe as Derek Miller) offs every goon as if he were 1980's Chuck Norris? Oh without a doubt.
Anyway, Hard Kill lacks plot buildup and provides the audience with another veritable, sleepwalking performance from co-star Bruce "paycheck" Willis. The lines are minimal, the movement on screen is lackadaisical, the bald head is binding, and the cue cards are for the most part, ever-present. The other actors ham it up while the "Bruiser" just sits there totally comatose.
Reminiscent of a neutered Assault on Precinct 13, shot by a helmer who likens Willis as his muse, and driven by an antagonist who won't stop spewing numerous soliloquies (Sergio Rizzuto as The Pardoner), Hard Kill is about a group of soldiers who have to protect a computer program meant to end the world. "Kill" starts out taut until it drags its game actors down in flask continuum. The flick runs ninety-eight minutes but probably could've concluded in just over an hour.
Bottom line: Hard Kill has everything you want in a direct-to-video action thriller (I don't know if that's a good thing). There's the techno spy music, the Scorpion TV show-style dialogue, and a director who just feels so enamored to be working with Bruce "I use to be awesome in Die Hard" Willis. Too bad Hard Kill is such a "hard" movie to embrace considering that its terrorism interludes pale in comparison to what our world is going through right now. Rating: 2 stars.
Written by Jesse Burleson
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