Monday, January 2, 2017

The Hunted (2003) - 3 stars out of 10

The Hunted (2003) - 3 stars out of 10

“The Hunted” is nearly an epic showdown between master and student.  The only problem is that it doesn’t really do anything.  The film is essentially a war sequence, two extended chase sequences, and a final showdown.  That's the entire movie.  The plot is a bit confused.  I’m not sure if there were issues behind the scenes or changes in the scriptwriting department, but there is a disconnect within the story.  They stumble onto an interesting theme as the main character targets hunters who use unethical advantages to kill animals.  This combined with the psychological effects of military service could have made for an amazing story.  Then they completely abandon both premises halfway through and never mention them again.  Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio del Toro play their roles well in spite of the script.  Outside of the story, the chase scenes are cool as each meeting of the main characters is filled with unusually realistic hand-to-hand combat and an unnecessarily grotesque amount of blood.  If you want to experience the story but can't handle blood, don't even bother with this one.  There's more blood spatter than a Tarantino film.  The outdoorsy atmosphere is interesting but overdone.  It’s kind of like “Rambo,” only not good.  “The Hunted” is good for its realistic hand-to-hand combat but outside of this, there are many better films in this genre.

[Pictured: The military training flashback is cool but is one of the only portions that is worth watching]

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