Hunter Killer

​"Hunter Killer".

Watched English movie "Hunter Killer". 

This movie is directed by Donovan Marsh. Written by Arne Schmidt and Jamie Moss. Produced by Gerard Butler and others. Cinematography by Tom Marais. Music by Trevor Morris. It features Great Butler, Gary Oldman, Michael Nyqvist, Linda Cardinelli, Toby Stephens, Common, Gabriel Chavarria, David Gyasi, Ryan McPartlin, Michael Trucco, Ether Baird, Zane Holtz, Alexander Dyachenko, Michael Gor, Carter McIntyre. Film runs for about 1 hour and 56 minutes and was released in 2018. I watched it on 10th Jun 2023 on Netflix with Aditi.

An American submarine is following a Russian submarine. Explosion. Torpedo. Both submarines sink. Rear Admiral decides to send another submarine under unorthodox Commander Joe Glass who has worked his way up.  In parallel a seal team is sent to gather Intel from Russian naval base. There is a coup and Russian President is captured. America can extricate itself from the situation, without taking blame for the fall out, only if they can rescue the Russian President.

It’s a plot that’s not entirely convincing. Seal team of four and a submarine that can’t reach naval base is all that stands between WW III. The irony of America rescuing Russian President is not lost. There are several security issues that are not addressed in the movie. It focuses more on humans than on strategy and geopolitics. 

Gerard is the protagonist. He does well. Common plays his boss and does Justice to the role. Michael Nyqvist Plays the captured Russian captain. He has very few dialogues but is very impressive. This movie was released after his death. So, it was one of his very last roles. 

A lot of movie happens on the submarine. For an action thriller, it has limited action. Gerard Butler, who is known for action films, has no action in this movie. The end of the movie is also a little too easy and abrupt. Something more was needed. 

This movie couldn’t recover its production cost at the box office. It was a flop.

Positives: Pace, Submarine world. 

Negatives: The retaliation. The concept.

Watch if you have time.