Director: Kenoi Waxman
Stars: Steve Austin, Gil Bellows, Gary Daniels, Eric Roberts
I’m surprised Stone Cold Steve Austin hasn’t been doing more film work since now. I remember when he was part of WWF Raw (you know before it became WWE) and occasionally cropped up in a handful of shows. Celebrity Deathmatch, Dilbert, Nash Bridges, Austin cropped up and even though it likely didn’t have the best of lines, he always gave that indomitable impression. Even when he cropped up in later films like The Longest Yard as an evil prison guard or as angry fist pounding henchman in The Expendables, I wonder why he hasn’t done more. It seems like a perfect combination for the generic action films to get some Stone Cold Stunners.
Things have changed this year, he’s done at least three films. One, obviously being The Expendables. Two of them direct to dvd affairs. The Stranger and Hunt To Kill. I do own both of them but I’ve just recently watched Hunt To Kill.
Why Hunt To Kill first? Well, it has Gary F**KING Daniels in it! Anything Gary Daniels, I’ll be there to watch it. Even if he has a short moment before being bumped off in a silly manner. Though truthfully those moments will never top his Expendables exit. But, regardless, that promise of Daniels and Austin smackdown was enough for me to watch this
Story wise, think Cliffhanger clone, just set in the woods of Montana. Ranger Stone Cold Steve Austin* and his daughter get caught up in a tiff between a group of thieves (Bellows, Daniels to name some of them) and their ex boss (Michael Hogan) who is trying to sneak into Canda through the woods with all the money they stole in Vegas. Typical criminal tiff and dragging the good guys into their sordid affair. What follows is 90 minutes of walking around the woods hunting for the money while Austin tries to find a way to escape with his daughter. It will ultimately end in a lot of killing and Stone Cold stunners!
I may have made the Stone Cold Stunners part up. Oh well, one can dream.
It’s nothing remarkable. However, I wasn’t expecting anything else but something to be midly amused with. Hunt To Kill is decently made, occasionally looking slightly more than a TV movie at times thanks to that high definition feel on the blu-ray. Austin still has a presence on the screen and can handle the action scenes well. As if I needed to think that through following the epic Stallone smackdown in The Expendables. Hunt To Kill succeeds at giving cheap thrills.
The obvious set piece that stands out is the finale twenty minutes where Austin becomes villain hunter as he stalks about the woods, cammo painted and armed with improvised cross bow taking on everyone who stands in his way. He even spears a poor unsuspecting villian by throwing a log spike down a cliff. And yes, he does fight Gary Daniels. Daniels kicks Austin a lot with his martial arts skills, Austin smacks Daniels a lot old school WWF style. I’m a happy bunny. Like I said, cheap thrills on display here.
The only annoyance I had was simply the wait until Austin actually got on beating the villains. There’s plot to be made, sure. But at least try to make our troubled situation interesting. Why spend 75 minutes showing that the group of villains hate one another and like shouting a lot. Plus roles played by people like Eric Roberts and Michael Hogan are pretty much glorified cameos.
But are we expecting high class art from a Steve Austin straight to dvd film? No. We’re looking for an easy distraction on a boring night in. Hunt To Kill ticks the boxes and I hope Austin can progress from here.
* - Ranger Stone Cold Steve Austin is not Steve Austin's name in the film. But let's be honest, it's a kick-ass name in comparsion to Jim Rhodes.
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