First Kill

The kid is being bullied. Logically, his dad takes him on a hunting trip, spinning the various virtues of killing animals. It takes courage to hunt, the dad says, and what could be more courageous than shooting a deer from a distance with the telescopic rifle? He needs to learn to stand up to himself, the dad says, and apparently shooting animals is the best way to learn that, and to avoid being bullied.

The action sequences are OK. The movies does not suffer from excessive logic.

Wow, three are some harsh critics out there. It wasn't one I would watch again, but it was enjoyable enough.

Okay, this was not one of Bruce Willis' shining moments ... forget the Nakatome Building, or whatever it was.

But, this is a decent movie. It was obviously a collaboration among a gaggle of movie and production companies, presumably so they could afford Willis.

No spoilers here, but the seemingly irrational behavior of the main character in the first half, will later seem rational based upon what's learned in the second half. I was glad I didn't doze off or let the WTF reaction stop me from making it to round two.

If they'd had any nuance at all in early character development, this would have a "great" movie. But, don't let all the negative press (esp Rotten Tomatoes) stop you from watching it. The sheer irony of round two is worth the watch.

This movie had decent cinematography, and the directing was a mish mash in various aspects (worked well with visuals but poorly with the actors).

The writing/screenplay was very bad and had too many plot holes and was predictable. The story/concept in itself was not bad and somewhat entertaining, but was executed poorly from a bad screenplay and sub- par directing.

The score was either absent when needed, or atrocious when present. Was it some high school students on strings the entire time?

Finally there's the terrible acting for 2 of the main characters - the little boy (excusable as a young amateur actor but should have been cast or directed better) and Bruce Willis. Seriously Bruce, put some effort into your acting, you used to be convincing. That straight- faced smug look and monotonic voice is passé. Bruce needed part of William DeMeo's over-acting, of which made him unconvincing as well.

Gethin Anthony as Levi had the best performance, and the only character that was convincing. Hayden Christensen was OK, but not even close to convincing in his character. Also poorly cast or directed.

Considering all the "In Association With.." production companies shown at the start that were involved in this movie, I expected much better.

It's only a 6/10 from me.

I watched this with an open mind until it became clear that the scriptwriter/director/producers must have been in the employ of the American motor industry.

The protagonists drive into the woods in a Range Rover only to be told by Over-The-Top-Aunty, that their chosen 4x4 won't get them anywhere and they should instead drive her yankee pick-up.

A nitpick some might say, but anyone knowing anything about cars knows the Range Rover is the singular best off-roader in the world (apart from its more utilitarian predecessor: the Land Rover). A small point but it marks a complete lack of knowledge, understanding and research.

Then later on the same OTTA offers them yet another truck... and I'm pretty sure that character wasn't running a garage.