[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Down]
If you’re a fan of action in your movies, and care for little else, then maybe The Hunter’s Prayer will at least be okay for you.
For those of you who love great acting, original plots, and engaging, interesting characters, you’re going to want to avoid this generic action flick.
Featuring Avatar star Sam Worthington as Lucas, the action thriller follows an assassin with a conscience. He can’t bring himself to take out a young woman whose family has already been murdered. The young woman he suddenly decides to protect, Ella is played by Odeya Rush. Of course, once he decides to protect his original prey, all hell breaks lose. His employers send countless more assassins to finish the job.
All in all, the movie, directed by Jonathon Mastow (Breakdown, U-571, Terminator 3:Rise of the Machines) is a generic mish-mash of movies like The Transporter and Taken. It feels largely uninspired and generic, and at times is a real chore to watch. One of the most difficult things to buy into is the reason why this hired gun has such a change of heart so quickly. His devotion to this young woman he’s supposed to be killing in no way feels earned. It’s more like a light switch, and we are supposed to believe this ruthless man who takes lives for money – suddenly has decided he wants to go against his employers – making himself just as much a target.
The acting is also pretty stale throughout. It’s no wonder star Sam Worthington has pretty much been out of the spotlight since James Cameron’s Avatar. Rush’s performance feels as though she’s phoning it in. Her pain at her family’s loss and her connection to Lucas never feel authentic.
The one plus from The Hunter’s Prayer is the action. If exciting car chases, gun battles and explosions are all you care about, you may feel like giving the movie a shot. If it’s an engaging, dramatic story with believable characters and development within those characters you’re after, definitely skip The Hunter’s Prayer.
However, if the action is all you care about, it is now playing at AMC Studio 28 in Olathe.
Jason is a former Emmy award-winning television news producer, film fanatic and pop culture geek. He has a soft spot for horror, sci-fi and fantasy and loves talking and writing about movies.
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