The Professional

I stumbled across this movie while exploring Sam Worthington's filmography after seeing another one of his movies. Overall I really enjoyed it because I really enjoy anti-hero characters (Mike Sullivan in "Road to Perdition", for example). It adds to the complexity of the situation and the human condition. "Bad guy turned (almost) good guy" sort of thing is always interesting, as are stories about guys doing bad things for good reasons.

That said, I think this movie should've been flushed out a little more. I wanted more backstory. I didn't feel like we got enough information about the characters themselves. This is a good movie to watch on a lazy day if you're craving some good action, but not too much else. I liked it and will watch it again, most likely, because I'm easy to please and I really like Worthington, who was GREAT in it. I just wanted more!

Crime/action movie. A paid killer sees that his next target is a young girl, the daughter of a target of his boss. He cannot kill her and eventually undertakes to flee and protect her, making them both targets. Sam Worthington, a very good actor, perfectly attributes the inner strife of a paid murderer and protector like a father, being himself the father of a daughter. The film has enough suspense up to a point where it gradually drops pace unfortunately and has an expected end. It could have become of the top films in the genre with a little more work. However it is quite good and is recommended.

For some reason this thriller is fairly involving and you want to see what happens - but it isn't a must watch.

Sam Worthington is the assassin turned protector and he has a rather inexpressive face. Bland and emotionless. Don't think he conveyed a junkie convincingly. His accent is hard to understand.

Odeya Rush reminds of a younger Mila Kunis - quite appealing.

The actor Allen Leech who plays the villain acted as the chauffeur Tom from Downton Abbey. He isn't convincing - can't help thinking of him as the help of the bad guy rather than the evil bad guy.

The chase via car and train etc through a rather bleak wintry Europe is unnecessarily unattractive..

As a movie that was not categorized as summer blockbuster Hollywood movie, we got we came for. The movie did not have large special effects, but the action sequence including the car chase and the hand to hand combat were actually pretty exciting. I loved and enjoyed how the sound effects were put to good use. The guns blazing sound and those car chases noise (including some sudden shocking effects like car being hit and so on) were the best parts of the movie.

The story seemed to be pretty standard for this kind of movie. It had the element of anti-hero in it, where our protagonist was actually an assassin/hit-man and also had a "father/daughter" relationship, despite they were not really father and daughter. I understand that this movie was adapted from a novel titled For the Dogs written by Kevin Wignall which was considered very good by a lot of critics. This was usually the case for a novel to be adapted into a movie. However, it would seem that the movie adaptation was not garnering the same views by lots of critics.

As an action thriller movie, it was actually good in terms of the actions. However, for me personally, I think the actions could have been given a bit more. There were times when it was in the more dramatic moments, the pace would become slow (which was actually in contradiction to the novel which according to critic was a fast-paced page-turner). Nevertheless, due to the good actions sequence, I was pretty pleased with the movie. Just a reminder though that the killings were pretty brutal, so best not to be seen by children. I could not say that this was a bad movie, but neither could I say that this is a very good movie. Overall it was pretty standard.

On the characterization, I think Odeya Rush was pretty good playing damsel in distress (My wife and I kept on thinking that she looked like a younger Mila Kunis). But this time Sam Worthington (apart from the actions part) was not too memorable. Even worse was Allen Leech who seemed out of place as the main villain. I think Jonathan Mostow as the director was not able to bring out the best from the actors and even got one rather illogical scene before the climax. It was a pity though since he actually got quite a good portfolio of commercially successful movies such as U-571, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines or The Surrogates.

So if you are a fan of Sam Worthington and wanted to see him as a lead character in an action thriller movie, then this could make you happy. Now if you want to see a not-so-fast paced action movie and just enough of action sequences through out the movie, with "father/daughter" relationship, then this probably would be a good choice. But if you are looking for a full blown action movie, or even a very meaningful action thriller movie, then it would be better if you look elsewhere.

For my complete review, pls have a look at michaelnontonmulu.blogspot.co.id

This film tells the story of an assassin who is hired by a rich tycoon to kill a teenage girl studying in the Switzerland. He finds himself unable to kill the girl, and they both become targets for assassination. They have to do everything in order to survive.

"The Hunter's Prayer" has a thrilling story, and more importantly a story that makes you care about what happens to the characters. The teenage girl gets into a perilous situation, and I really feel for her for not knowing who to trust. The assassin, on the other hand, is also sympathetic. He is a hybrid of a villain and a hero, making him likable. I find this film enjoyable.