Hunter Killer

Two submarines are blown up under the ice of the Bering sea. One American and one Russian. A hunter killer submarine called the USS Arkansas under the command of Commander Joe Glass is sent to investigate. In the meanwhile a navy seal team lead by Lieutenant Bill Beaman is sent by Washington DC bigwigs to reconnoiter a Russian deep water port in the hope of finding out what's afoot.

This is an unapologetic throw back to a simpler time. It's the kind of film that abounded in the 80's and 90's. The Russkies are the bad guys who all speak English because the film-makers are aiming for an audience who doesn't do subtitles. The square jawed Americans are the heroes. Flawless, heroic, preternaturally gifted at everything they do. Problems are solved by barking commands and spitting bullets and hoping against hope. Cliffhangers are sorted out in ways not scientifically possible. Oscar winning actors take small roles just for the money but appear all over the advertising. It's all dripping with testosterone. Heroic sacrifices are made. It has a plotline that falls to pieces if you think about it for more than 30 seconds.

And yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a perfect film if you just want to sit back and turn your brain off. It's also a fine example of an enjoyable subgenre thats popped up in the last decade. The Gerard Butler action movie. Just like Olympus Has Fallen, Law Abiding Citizen, Den Of Thieves and Machine Gun Preacher it's absurd, shouty, sweary, violent, slightly shoddy but somehow really entertaining. It's a film with no notions about itself, it knows its silly and is happy to go along with it. Butler as always is fun and this time as Joe Glass more restrained than usual and he's not going around stabbing heads & spouting awful one liners for a change. He's a different kind of action hero and it's kind of refreshing because he was heading into a rut. His portion of the film is Crimson Tide minus the moral conundrums and with added torpedoes and depth charges. He leaves the heavy duty action to a gruff and bearded Toby Stephens as the navy seal in charge of the ground operation. This part of the film is pure Call Of Duty stuff and it contains all the running and gunning that this entails. It's a satisfying blend of stealth reconnaissance and eventually bloody headshots. Silly as all hell but still satisfying. Just don't think about it too much.

The less successful third of the film takes place in DC. Gary Oldman as the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff barking ineffectual commands at Common and Linda Cardinelli. Cardinelli tries her best to make an impact in a film totally dominated by men while Oldman hams it up big style. To make up for the machismo on display the film gives the role of the US president to a woman (Caroline Goodall) but nothing is really done with this and a would be interesting aspect is left to the wayside meaning we're left with the dull spectacle of a room full of bureaucrats looking helplessly on proceedings through big screens. Thankfully the cutting between the 3 storylines means we're never left with them for too long.

I went into this film expecting nothing and left it nicely surprised. Ya, it's cliched and the submarine stuff will all seem overly familiar if you've seen any other submersible set movie but it worked for me. It's a pleasingly old fashioned watch. The kind of movie people will enjoy but never admit that fact to others. It's blazingly silly in places but it's fun, it's crunchy, it's exceedingly tense and importantly it's never ever boring. Plus it contains the final ever performance from the fine Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist who sadly passed away last year. He brings a quiet dignity to his role as a Russian submarine commander and his scenes with Glass bring a nice gravitas to proceedings. It's these quieter moments that make this film stand out in it's field.

An agreeable way to spend a couple of hours.