By Sarah Michelle
You’re never really sure what to expect with a last minute email for an upcoming release within 24 hours, except random luck? You see the cast, the promo photo and description, wondering if it’s a test screening, but that can’t be it.
I took the side glances from not bringing a plus one, and I helped the very nice young ladies that were behind me in line, who had never heard the phrase “red right hand” whether biblical, or song lyrics. They were very excited to google things and read them to me.
I was surrounded by mostly production company employees, they have a very particular energy, and I was a female working in the video game industry for 5 years, I’m fully aware of that energy, even during a particular hitman movie based on a video game, that premier was flinchingly personal.
Oddly enough, they made it endearing, the movie is decent, more than decent, I’m just really picky when I say “decent”. They cheered non stop during the opening credits (Traction Pictures guys, I’m looking at you), during certain scenes, and I’m sure most of them had seen different edits of a scene and will get questioned like a criminal in a interrogation on why they specifically liked this edit over that edit. I’m sure the employee that had a couple old fashions before the movie, and beers during the movie was maybe a repeated test subject? Or maybe I just have really good hearing and act like I’m not listening to people and their side convos.
It was definitely one of the screenings that was made twice as good because of Collider and the Q&A, I had several moments during the film where I maybe snorted with laughter, while maintaining my trademark RBF. There was very few eye roll moments for certain lines, whether it was how it was stated or the line itself or the delivery? It happens.
It was definitely a male heavy cast, but the females had some amazing kick ass moments, and the guys all supported Chapel Oaks, in her first movie, without acting too much like big brothers (which they probably were to her on set). Andie MacDowell needs to play a villain more often, I am here for it. I don’t know how I feel about Orlando Bloom with a southern accent, he did it well enough, just wasn’t used to hearing it. I appreciated his story timeline and how it was explained in bits and chunks, I always prefer if it’s a little feed of info as you go a little further. Each scene is a little investment in the next one, and so on, and that compliments Jonathan Easley and the Nelms brothers’.
Probably the only bummer was it’s too easy to be hunted in a small town, there is literally nothing to blend into (again, I’m a small town girl, really small). It’s not like they can set up a watch tower or a safe house, but they get creative with the spaces they have in the wild. Also loved seeing the girl get her first knife, it had the guys in the audience laughing, but my dad gave me a similar one when I was 15, we were not hunters, but he had a daughter in a small town, you prepare for random situations. This was definitely not a normal random situation… with excessively impressive force.
It’s not often you see a human used successfully as a hood ornament, Daniel David Stewart as Zeke pulled that off and it wasn’t a scenario option that I had considered, so…nicely done getting that in on all sides. A lot of action movies can get into a predictable fashion, it’s always fun when you have that “holy shit” moment and laugh cause you didn’t expect it. I appreciated that enough that they oddly still make me smile now, and it’s kinda creepy. If you like action and a drawing a line in the sand with vengeance, go see it. I will be honest and say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, and those are the best kind of surprises.