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!

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.

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.

Grillo always make the B grade action movies looks better.. Yeah it's a cliche story but enough to you chill n relax in 90min..a little bit harsh if lower than 4/10... The careography of the action, the locations of the movie.. the camera.

Hounds of War" is a gritty action film that focuses on mercenaries involved in a conflict in a fictional country. The story delves into themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the moral complexities of war. It showcases intense action sequences and character-driven narratives, exploring the personal motivations of those who fight for profit rather than patriotism. The film is noted for its realistic portrayal of combat and the psychological impact of warfare on the characters.

First let me say that I'm a fan of Grillo - he always holds his own and never needs cast direction, thus why even newb/terrible directors seek him out as he makes them look good. However, that also means he'll keep doing B movies, and I feel he deserves better than that, as he's been in a few of my top B films.

Yesterday I saw him in Long Gone Heroes and I was really disappointed in that movie. It was very slow and the long 2 hour runtime dragged on and felt much longer in a cliched storyline that was rather dull and boring. I rated that movie a generous 4/10.

Today I saw Hounds of War, and I enjoyed it much more. Sure it's not a perfect film, and there certainly were many plot and technical issues, bad editing, and the directing had some flaws, BUT the storyline kept me engaged (and sort of unique and not riddled with the typical cliches), and had excellent pacing and non stop action and suspense. The 95 min runtime flew by almost too fast. Even the action scenes (although not perfect) were much better than yesterday's movie. Plus the set/location shoots were beautiful, and I've never seen Malta as beautifully as it was shown in this movie. So from an eye-candy perspective, this movie was amazing, not to mention the beautiful and lovely Rhona Mitra was very easy on the eyes. Plus the soundtrack theme song at the end (Vladtoseeu - Nosence, you're welcome) was amazing, and I've already added it to my playlist.

So this movie had lot's going for it, and undeserving of all the current 1-3/10's from the wannabe critics. Go see Long Gone Heroes, that once certainly deserves those low scores. This is a very well done B movie and deserving of the 7/10 from me.