Take Cover

Professional mercenary sniper Sam Lorde (Scott Adkins) finds himself in the middle of an existential crisis when he accidentally kills an innocent who throws herself in front of his intended victim. He contacts his remote boss and tells her he wants to leave the business. The boss is very disappointed but books him and his spotter Ken (Jack Parr) into a posh hotel where she'll meet them to go through formalities. However, someone else knows they are there and they are out for vengeance... Right let's say the good things first. By the end of the film, it's quite feel good and you've enjoyed a convoluted story. I very much liked the performance of Madalina Bellariu Ion who plays call girl Mona. Perhaps the best performance of the entire film.

Right, the dogs ears...the script is truly awful. The non stop pseudo-hateful banter between Sam and Ken is acutely badly written and sounds as fake as it is. Fight scenes are pretty poor. Acting is pretty poor. Verbalised emotions are half felt and not explored properly. There are so many plot holes it borders on ridiculous, and there's too much melodrama from poor actors.

Having said all of that the story while not new at all, isn't bad. If this film had great actors and a top end director it probably would have been pretty good. As it was it wasn't dire, it just wasn't very well produced or directed in so many ways. I have had a very tasty and enjoyable dinner so I am in a great mood and I give it a 5.

Based on the actors you know what you are getting with Scott Adkins.

But I felt this was way below average and one of his worst.

Nothing to do with the acting which is always serviceable enough but the script was so bad I think they may be trying to be a parody of these sort of movies.

You have the standard assassin type and you can fill in the blanks it is paint by numbers, but some of the choices are insane, the handlers Alice Eve voice is jarring, she does not suit a small part or play it very convincingly.

You dont need an amazing or necessarily logical script but this one is seriously below average there was no need for some of the most stupid plot points.

Scott Adkins can act well enough for these sort of parts but never has a chance.

The action sequences are so boring with no interesting parts.

I think they should not have gone with Alice Eve and spent the money on a better script and director.

I've always been a fan of Adkins and felt he deserved lead roles in action movies instead of always being supporting cast, and in this movie, he finally got that. But as usual, he's always in these B movies and usually with newb filmmakers, as is the case here. He did however carry the film, along with the rest of the cast that did their best with the terrible material they had to work with.

This movie is stuntman turned newb director Nick McKinless' first full length feature film, and I have to say, he did not disappoint - especially considering the terrible screenplay he had to work with. He directed this movie and his cast very well to the point he seemed like a seasoned director. Camera shots, action scenes and choreography were impressive, and he should be proud of his achievements. I feel McKinless has found his calling as a director.

However, where this movie failed miserably is in newb writer Joshua Todd James' terrible screenplay, that had the most pointless and cringeworthy dialogue I've ever heard. It's as if it was written by a bunch of high school drama class teenagers - riddled with annoying cuss words and frat-house back and forth bromance "my d*ick is bigger than yours" type dialogue. Then in between that, it was constant blah blah blahhh cringe dialogue that was mostly filler and did nothing to progress the narrative. This movie was literally the most boring and pointless sniper action movie I've seen.

From the entire middle act and on where they were hiding behind the sofas, was just nonsense conversation riddled with cliches, tedious exposition, shallow characterization and pointless dialogue. Even with the very short 80 min runtime (not counting all the opening and closing credits), the entire movie felt like it dragged on for over 2 hours. There just wasn't enough substance in this screenplay to be a full length movie, and would've been much more enjoyable as a short film. Never mind that the little substance there was, was riddled with plot holes and cliched parts taken from every other "one last job" movie out there.

Nevertheless, Adkins shined in this one, and it's too bad he spent most of his screen time blabbing nonsense instead of showcasing his action and fighting skills more than the barely five minutes he was given. It's a generous 5/10 from me.

It is not like it is some great story, but it is decent enough. I am not saying more, because I do not want to spoil. It is true, though, that the script is terrible - the conversations! Just awful. The characters are not that bad, it is all in the conversations.

You won't see the best of Scott Adkins' fighting, but that is not the idea, as he is supposed to be differently skilled. And the situation he and his teammate got stuck in is a good idea. So overall, I am rating the movie six stars, which is ok on my scale, as five and below is bad to worst. And to be honest, I think there are worse action movies (and movies overall) being on cinema, pretending that they aren't crap.

Here's my review of Take Cover:

Scott Adkins was the only redeeming factor in this film, though calling it "enjoyable" would be a stretch. His performance managed to elevate certain moments, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save the movie.

The opening scene failed to make an impression, with a script that lacked both engagement and impact. The issue was compounded by the overly loud background music, which often drowned out the dialogue and made it hard to follow. This pattern continued throughout, making the viewing experience frustrating at best.

The plot and script were major disappointments, wasting the potential of some decent acting. The narrative felt dragged out and underwhelming, with scenes like the one in the hotel room coming across as bland and predictable. There was no tension or excitement, as it was far too easy to guess what would happen next.

While the cinematography was decent, the music often overstayed its welcome, especially in moments that were supposed to be pivotal. The script felt rushed and uninspired, leaving the actors with little to work with, though some performances stood out slightly above the rest.

Overall, Take Cover had potential but was let down by its weak script, predictable narrative, and poor sound design, making it a forgettable experience despite Scott Adkins' best efforts.