The Hunters

Well you can't blame the failure of this film to take off on the cast, because they were a capable and experienced cast, even the younger actors. However, they are given absolutely nothing to sink their teeth into. Everything about the flick is just watered down and meandering. If this had been a Disney or Hub flick it would have worked, or even if upgraded to a full blown fantasy flick, it would have worked, but it feels completely like this is a first draft and not a full fleshed film. The script is thin with stick figure characters, clotted with toss off explanations to move the story and beyond cliché plot points (the Asian assassin was almost painful to watch). Everything it had going for it is wasted.Complete and total lack of backstory. It would have been great to know how Tripp's techie skills and Pax's fighting skills had previously reared their heads, it was screaming for some actual examples of the fairytale items in modern times, and someone with a much cleverer wit to punch up the one liners. It seems like the money ran out somewhere, but there was no going back to get a good finished product. The cast did what they could with what they had.

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.

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.

this is fun to watch if you like adventure movies like "The librarian" and "Indiana Jones", the acting is terrible but it is entertaining nonetheless.

I recommend watching "The librarian" instead but if there is nothing else to watch on your play list go ahead and give it a go.

like i said before, the acting is terrible and the writing poor. The choice of weapons by the villains is also questionable, Crossbows? and why does Interpol have a terrible German accent? The children are written extremely poor and snobby.

On to another review Stefan