I went into First
Kill genuinely excited. Granted I was a little skeptical because I hadn’t
really heard too much about the film and... well... Hayden Christensen should
probably make everyone skeptical. However I am sucker for a solid action flick and I was hoping First Kill would be
able to scratch that itch.
The
film starts off with a few rocky and disjointed scenes. Some trouble with a
bully at school leads Will (Hayden Christensen) to take his 11 year old son
Danny (newcomer Ty Shelton) and his wife Laura (Megan Leonard) to his hometown
for a father and son bonding/hunting trip, like his father did when he was
young. After a brief shooting lesson where Will really does not teach Danny
anything about shooting, they head out for their hunt and that is where the
trouble begins. Will and Danny quickly find themselves tangled in a web of
corrupt cops and small town criminals. Some convoluted logic and questionable
decision making on Will’s part leads to Danny getting
kidnapped by Levi (Gethin Anthony). Will decides he must go out on his own and
pull out all of the stops to try and get his son back. Bruce Willis plays
Howell, the town’s Sheriff, who questions Will’s
involvement and is determined to straighten things out.
Director Steven C. Miller (Extraction, Marauders) tries to keep viewers engaged with some sprinkled in gunfights, an ATV chase scene through
wooded back roads, and a few generic plot twists and turns. None of these twists are
as big as the one where Will goes from Wall Street stockbroker to action hero
in the blink of an eye, which just further adds to the ridiculousness of the movie.
Bruce Willis gives a less than stellar performance and no one in the cast truly
stands out. This is Miller's third time working with Willis and I hoped this established relationship would have translated to a more powerful presence on screen. Bruce Willis and Hayden Christensen are clearly the headliners for
the film and the biggest draws, but a portion focuses on the unusual relationship
that forms between Danny and his kidnapper. In some sense, the bonding that
Will wanted to experience with his son takes place, without Will being
involved. First Kill isn’t terrible and I have seen far worse films. However it is a formulaic and mediocre action film at best. It certainly lacks excitement and its biggest crime might be how little Bruce Willis we get and how unsatisfying he is when we do get him. Save your money, wait for Redbox, or even better – just rent Homefront and watch that instead.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Guttenbergs
