The Hunters

From the very opening, this had TV written all over it.

The locations imply that production values were good, but the actors, outfits, make-up, etc., all said that there was a second-rate production team behind it (nobody seemed to sweat or get dirty hiking through jungles, for instance, and these little details really take a viewer out of a tale on a subconscious level).

As for the plot: well, it's a very TV-series-pilot affair, with villains who shoot their own henchmen in the backs for no apparent reason (and with crossbows(!) that I imagine were hidden away inside a bra) and action that is neither gritty nor pops off the screen as impressive - actually, think of the kind of bland fights from Xena and just know that they were better...

I suppose that really, this film was aimed at children/young teenagers, so I wasn't the target audience, but from an adult's point of view, there's nothing new and what there is has been done better a hundred+ times already.

Brothers Paxton (Robbie Amell) and Tripp Flynn (Keenan Tracey) find their parents (Michelle Forbes, Dan Payne) have gone missing, and they're in a secret society of Hunters who track down legendary artifacts for safe keeping. The brothers and friend Dylan (Alexa Vega) have to track down a secret artifact and save the Flynn parents.

There are some good actors working here including the great Victor Garber. But I'm not sure the material is up to it. While the premise of a secret society is interesting, it's been done better elsewhere. This feels like a TV movie pilot hoping for a series pickup.

I get that they're trying to be a different looking thriller. People with crossbows look silly unless they can explain they're some kind of magical crossbows. The production isn't big enough to get the look right. The action isn't strong enough to be exciting. The CGI is lesser TV level. Everything is just slightly not quite enough.

I picked up this movie not knowing anything more about it than the short description on the back of the jacket. That being said I thought it sounded interesting, I pick up a lot of movies like this I'm not always as lucky as I was with this one.

The movie was rich with subplots and the main plot itself was quite good. The idea that the items from fairy tales are real and that there is a secret society that collects and protects them without using them is intriguing. The acting was adequate and actually surprising better than anticipated. The locations were nice and went well with the script, not overly staged. I throughly enjoyed this movie!

That being said, I truly felt that the idea behind this script deserved MORE. More everything, it left me feeling like I really wanted the next movie but yet felt more like the budget of a TV show. I think this could be an enjoyable main stream series of movies if there were just more meat to it. I mean, why do they carry crossbows instead of guns? I don't want to give too much out I'm just trying to make a point. This is a good movie but the story line has a lot of potential if they could just give it a little more soul.

Wow people are incredibly critical for what was a TV movie. It was a good movie. It might not have been the best I've ever seen. But it was solid enough.

It had good actors. The plot and character development could have been more, but you can't expect perfection from a TV movie.

It had suspense with a certain amount of surprise. Decent direction, good special effects.

The movie ended with me wanting more.

To all the people saying the story has been done before.... sure there's similarities. Once Upon a Time, Indiana Jones, The Liberians, Warehouse 13, etc. But most stories have been done before and redone into something else. This story was original enough that it was boring.

I love the idea of this but I thought they could have gone way farther with the plot, maybe even multiple movies. Half the movie was running and fighting instead of clever traps and artifacts.