Hunt to Kill

Looks like I am 0-for-2 when it comes to DTV action flicks with "kill" in the title this month with this and Dolph Lundgren's disappointing THE KILLING MACHINE. Some genius producer corralled the villains (Steve Austin, Eric Roberts and Gary Daniels) from Stallone's THE EXPENDABLES and put them in a cheap-o film. Jim Rhodes (Austin) is a border patrol agent who is forced (via the hostage daughter routine) to lead a gang on an excursion near the Canadian border. The gang is led by Banks (Gil Bellows, looking rough) and they are trying to find the guy who double crossed them after a heist. After they get their haul, they leave Rhodes for dead but he uses his Rambo-esquire survival skills to get them. Zzzzzzzz. This is the first "Stone Cold" Steve Austin film I've seen and he is surprisingly personality deprived (surprising because of his popular wrestling persona). The film's highlight is a fight between Austin and Daniels, which ends with Daniels run through with a stick and Austin saying, "Sorry you couldn't stick around." Really...in 2010. Director Keoni Waxman did several of those awful DTV Steven Seagal flicks and offers nothing outside of the film being in focus and some good forest locations. It is one of those movies where bad guys uncover a bomb in a huge warehouse and everyone stands 2 feet from it while one guy defuses it instead of getting the hell away. Eric Roberts is the doomed partner is the prologue and is gone by the seven minute mark. Skip it...and that's the bottom line cuz "Stone Lukewarm" Udar55 said so!

HUNT TO KILL is a routine action vehicle for wrestler-turned-actor Steve Austin, who plays the usual unstoppable hulking hero type in this story about a gang of bank robbers who abscond to the forests to make their escape by crossing the border into Canada. Along the way they pick up Austin's daughter, forcing him in turn to become their guide under the threat of violence.

What follows is almost a scene by scene rip-off of Stallone's CLIFFHANGER, made on a much lower budget of course and without much of the finesse. Saying that, it's still a relatively entertaining B-picture, packing a plenitudes of action into the brief running time. It's certainly more entertaining than some of the rubbishy vehicles that director Keoni Waxman has made for Steven Seagal.

The film has plenty of faults, with poor character motivations and a dearth of originality in the screenplay (I was surprised when Austin fell down the cliff-face for a second time), not to mention tons of unbelievable stuff with the star shrugging off bullet hits and the like. But there's at least one decent fight scene (featuring the great, under-utilised Gary Daniels), a fun hammy performance from chief bad guy Gil Bellowes, a cameo from Eric Roberts, and a pacing that's fast enough for you to generally ignore the various problems.

It's ironic that anyone who claim to have wasted their life watching these kinds of movies, somehow still find the time to write a review about how much they dislike the movie... This action film, yes, "action" film, does enough to keep you intrigued. Could it of been better? Sure, but it is entirely watchable and entertaining. I also recommend "The Package" and "Maximum Conviction", if you enjoy Steve Austin movies.

This is quite possibly the stupidest action movie I've ever seen. The plot, is cliché, sure, they all are in this genre now. There is a reason that Stallone and the Spermanator are famous for their abilities to make crappy plots work.

Stone Cold doesn't have that, the dude is a good actor, and was a great athlete, but they have to stunt doubles for him RUNNING for christs sake. And as awesome as a clash between "Steve "I drink beer and have rough sex with fear" Austin" and "Darth Maul" could have been, it's not. It's the antithesis of what you'd expect from such a showdown.

I mean, there is a low speed ****ing ATV chase, and seeing Austin pop a wheelie on a four wheeler to smash a bad guy into a wall, before shooting said ATV with a flare... Was beyond my tolerance for stupidity, I was hung over, on the couch, and helpless to turn this off since my xbox controller was out of reach. I'm warning you ahead of time so no one else has to suffer. Don't watch this.

I first came because a friend recommended I try their world famous salads. I was pleasantly surprised they also served tacos as well. Against my better judgement I ordered a fish taco...maybe the best decision I've ever made. This taco changed my life. The service was atrocious and the bathrooms smelled of death, but this taco took me away from all of those worldly problems. Highly recommend, but don't use the bathroom