Taglines: Take on a Madman. Save the World.
Hard Kill Movie Storyline. Upset that her revolutionary technology will be misused for military purposes, Eva Chalmers approaches an extremist known as the Pardoner, who promises to help her use it to save the world. When she balks at his terrorist plans, he takes her hostage and attempts to coerce her father, Donovan, into revealing the code to activate it. Donovan hires a team of mercenaries led by Derek Miller to rescue Eva and recover the tech.
Hard Kill is a 2020 American action-thriller film directed by Matt Eskandari and starring Jesse Metcalfe, Bruce Willis, Natalie Eva Marie, Lala Kent, Texas Battle, Swen Timmel, Sergio Rizzuto, Tyler Jon Olson, Jon Galanis, Jacquie Nguyen, Abigail Esmena and Chris Petty It was released on August 21, 2020 in the United States by Vertical Entertainment.
Principal photography began in January 2020 in Cincinnati, under the working title Open Source. The film was simultaneously released in theaters and video on-demand in the United States on August 21, 2020. It also received a theatrical release in Saudi Arabia on November 5, 2020, where it grossed $96,534. Hard Kill then became available to stream on Netflix in the USA on November 23, 2020.
Film Review for Hard Kill
You’d think that by now Bruce Willis would be tired of saving the world. The veteran actor, who seems to have settled on making listless appearances in forgettable B-movie action movies as a retirement funding plan, co-stars in this would-be thriller, marking his third low-budget collaboration with director Matt Eskandari (the others being Survive the Night and Trauma Center) in two years. The production notes inform us that the unimaginatively titled Hard Kill was filmed in a mere ten days, making you wonder how they spent eight of them.
Bruce Willis plays Donovan Chalmers (at least his character’s name has some flair), a mysterious billionaire who seeks out ex-Special Forces operative turned mercenary Derek Miller (Jesse Metcalfe, Desperate Housewives) for protection while visiting an abandoned factory. Miller assembles his team, including Sasha (Natalie Eva Marie, of the WWE reality series Total Divas), Harrison (Jon Galanis) and Dash (Swen Temmel), assuring them of a generous payday for an assignment he promises will be “strictly VIP protection.”
Needless to say, that turns out not to be the case, as Miller and his group are soon ambushed by a well-armed gang led by an international terrorist dubbed “The Pardoner” (Sergio Rizzutto, letting his beard do the menacing for him). It turns out that the quixotically named criminal, with whom Miller has a past, has kidnapped Chalmers’ daughter Eva (Lala Kent). She’s apparently developed an artificial intelligence computer program that, depending how it’s used, could either make the world a dramatically better place or destroy it. The Pardoner naturally intends the latter, explaining that he’s fighting for “a new world order.” The invention, referred to as “Project 725,” might as well be dubbed “The MacGuffin.”
Cue the tiresome action movie gun battles and other violent mayhem, staged unimaginatively by director Eskandari despite how much practice he gets. It’s occasionally punctuated by such lame dialogue scenes as Chalmers and Eva engaging in a heartfelt father-daughter chat or The Pardoner taking the time to explain the reason for his unusual moniker. During the latter, Willis, as if standing in for the viewer, listens with a bored expression on his face, clearly wishing he was interacting with Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber instead. The Pardoner, by comparison, is such a one-note villain that his chief distinguishing characteristic is his manipulations of a Rubik’s Cube — although that’s somewhat more arresting than Willis’ character-defining wearing of a heavy woolen scarf. Clearly, screenwriters Joe Russo (not the one of Avengers fame) and Chris LaMont didn’t feel a need for any heavy lifting.
Although Metcalfe certainly boasts the appropriate physicality for his role, he’s unable to summon sufficient charisma to make his character remotely interesting. The supporting performances are equally lackluster, although former wrestling star Marie makes for a convincing female badass. Chalmers’ right-hand man is played by actor Texas Battle (The Bold and the Beautiful soap opera), who deserves stardom if only for his name that would look great on a theater marquee.
As recently as last year’s Motherless Brooklyn, Willis has proven that, when he feels like it, he’s capable of giving interesting performances. Although no one begrudges him a decent living, it’s frustrating that he seems to be settling for such low-rent VOD Steven Seagal/John Travolta-style vehicles at this point in his career.
Hard Kill (2020)
Directed by: Matt Eskandari
Starring: Jesse Metcalfe, Bruce Willis, Natalie Eva Marie, Lala Kent, Texas Battle, Swen Timmel, Sergio Rizzuto, Tyler Jon Olson, Jon Galanis, Jacquie Nguyen, Abigail Esmena, Chris Petty
Screenplay by: Joe Russo, Chris LaMont
Production Design by: Daniel Adan Baker
Cinematography by: Bryan Koss
Film Editing by: R. J. Cooper
Costume Design by: Zachary Sheets
Set Decoration by: Laura Dennings
Music by: Rhyan D’Errico
MPAA Rating: R for violence and language throughout.
Distributed by: Vertical Entertainment
Release Date: August 21, 2020 (United States)
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