Take Cover

For the record, I am a fan. I have an Adkins film on my list of all-best movies, a claim few other reviewers can make. But, at the same time, I have been outspoken in my view that, since his Boyka films, he has not really found an outlet to best showcase his talent. TAKE COVER 2024 changes all that. Writer Joshua Todd James has cleverly turned a hi-rise apartment into a killbox, showing once again how a limited set does not have be a disadvantage. Properly done, the suspense becomes palpable. The script cleverly pushes the "turnabout" trope -- Adkins's being targeted by a faraway shooter works well because, in the story, he himself is also a sniper. Clever! There is a lot of action and tension in Take Cover, and many of Adkins' special skills are effectively deployed for the first time in quite a while. Recommended. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

The writing is just dreadful. From the cringeworthy opening conversation between Sam and Ken to the closing scene there isn't anything good. The script is laughable.

Even the fight scenes are slightly below par which is unusual for an Adkins movie.

I was pleased at the hit squad completely destroying the bar area, but failing to hit the fish tank. No one likes seeing fish getting shot up, do they?

Even though they are trapped in the apartment, there is very little in the way of tension. For some reason, they are struggling to close the curtains and there are a few times when they could leave by the door.

The high reviews on here are obviously fake. If you feel you must, then watch it and judge for yourself. This Scott Adkins fan is very dissappointed.

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.

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.