Hounds of War

This is a bog standard B movie actioner with a surprisingly good cast. It is also pretty dark at times and cynical about politicians. The fight scenes are pretty good and the supporting cast is packed with minor martial artists from round the world.

Frank Grillo is always good value and Robert Patrick reprises his bad guy role from Season 3 of Reacher. He really does a good slime ball!

It clocks in at 90 minutes and is set in Malta which makes a change, although Accident man 2 was also filmed there so maybe they offer tax breaks. The only thing it lacks is Scott Adkins doing his terrible American accent to make it the perfect Friday night no brainer!

Underwhelming & boring right from start. Bad editing & audio effect; Most of the film sounded muffled with certain parts jumping up and down. The film is obviously another independent low budget relying on a couple B-list actors in order to help sell it. All the rest of the "actors" are just D-list nobodies with cringing acting. The first scene is just unrealistic..... the President would have more than just a handful of secret service visibly around. I just saw Gillo in another film that got released same day "Long Gone Heroes" which was slightly better; ratings between the 2 films proves it.

Colonel Hart (Robert Patrick) directs operative Ryder (Frank Grillo) and his comrades on a mission in Libya. It's a trap. The task force is massacred. Sole survivor Ryder recruits Selina (Rhona Mitra) and goes on a revenge mission.

This is strictly an action B-movie. The writing is clunky. The story is simple to the point of simplistic. I'm not getting lost here, but I am getting bored. This movie is boring whenever there is no action. There is some interesting action, but nothing ground-shaking. There is a nice chase through the narrow streets of Malta, but like everything else in this movie, there are some clunky stuff whenever the action stops.

Despite the stale beginning and above average combat/action, the film has a unique storyline. There are some parts of the film that have some ups and downs, but mostly ups since Frank Grillo performed beautifully in some scenes during the film, whereas there are some characters that really need atleast a storyline for us to get a grasp of their presence.

I would have preferred the dialogues to be a little more enticing and fresh, but unfortunately some aren't that fresh. The overall pacing of the film is quite uneven, with some scenes dragging on while others feel rushed. This inconsistency can make it difficult for viewers to stay fully engaged throughout the entire movie.

However, the action sequences do provide some much-needed excitement and help to keep the momentum going. However, there are some scenes that are really entertaining and the action sequences are thrilling. All in all, the film is an enjoyable experience..

This isn't a bad film, but it's also not a good film. I don't really understand, as Issac has made a whole heap of fantastic movies. Ninja 2, Undisputed 2 etc, with this movie having scenes that go on for far too long.

The movie could easily drop 30 minutes and tell the exact same story. Scene for scene. The big fight scene in the middle ish of the movie.. sped up far too much. The pacing is off.

Again, it's not a bad film, but it's never going to be a great film. Shame. Frank and Rhona rock, as always, but that's not enough to save the movie. The camerawork is fantastic, great colour grading and the story isn't bad. Oh well. Next.