The Hunted

[Bumbaz]

Just noticed their are no reviews of The Hunted yet. Anyhoo here is mine which I saw in a biased theater as families brought their children and everything cause it was filmed in Portland. People cheered when they saw recognized places and I'm sure the children went to bed with some fear as the arterial cuts played back in their minds.

This is a fairly bloody movie so if you are squeemish maybe this ain't your bag. Also don't go expecting some mind altering experience that will change your perception of the world around you. This is a chase movie will some backdrop involved to flesh out the characters a bit. Its also well put together, there isn't really a signature Friedkin chase except a small chase in a traffic jam however the whole movie is a foot chase so it makes up for it. The story for the unfamiliar stars Benicio Del Toro as Aaron Hallam who is one of those unknown soldiers who will never be able to lead a normal life after the training of LT Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones). Aaron who is one of those soldiers who gets medals for stuff that will never become public record went AWOL and is hiding in the woods and starts to pray on Hunters who use far too much firepower to hunt deer and elk. This could have easily developed into its own story, but luckily stays on course for a groovy action / adventure instead.

LT who has trained many men like Aaron to kill, but has never killed anyone himself is called in to find him. Once he sets foot in the forest where whats left of the hunters is found, the chase starts and doesn't end. However a few pauses take place for some small character exposition. I really enjoyed the action in this movie and thought it had some reality touches in it. The fights were brutal, but also exhausting. This wasn't people flying around or lunging while simplying having their hair wet down. These were fights with gravity and weight, short of breath and gritty. The only stretch may be the end, but think of the amount of adrenaline that would flowing at the time.

Be warned there is a flashback of LT training a troop of how to kill with a knife. Aiming for all major arteries, and of course its just forshadowing for what will come.

Was worth my $8 and my friend enjoyed himself as well.

[Fizbenx]

Aaron who is one of those soldiers who gets medals for stuff that will never become public record went AWOL and is hiding in the woods and starts to pray on Hunters who use far too much firepower to hunt deer and elk.

Were they really deer hunters? The way it was set up when the first hunters were introduced they seemed to be hunting Aaron rather than deer, being hunters was just a cover up for them. At the beginning they spotted an elk, and then moments later they spotted Aaron lurking about and immediately said Ive got one, and started moving towards him. Then the fact that they kept pursuing him, rather than taking off which is what you would expect a normal hunter to do was rather strange as well.

Its not something that affects the story line really, except that I didnt really buy the part where the government officials are trying to explain that his battle stress is so severe that he cant function in the normal world anymore, he seemed to function just fine when LT or someone w/ a gun wasnt trying to kill him.

[Jimmy Carter wuwu]

From just about every critic I have seen a review from as of late hates this movie and some even call it "The worst movie of 2003".

[Bumbaz]

Ebert gave it 3 stars out of 4 *smirk* not sure where all the hate is coming from.

[Tramddark Luxdeorum]

The plot was weak.

The action and tracking scenes were decent.

The movie wasn't worth 8 dollars, but I won't go so far as to say it wasn't worth seeing.

[water bottle]

Just got back from seeing this today and despite my previous beliefs, I though tthis movie was actually pretty good. It wasn't realistic by any means, but definatly worth checking out.

[Jinheim]

The fight scenes between Benicio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones are really well done, in my opinion. Other than that, this movie has no redeeming qualities.

*Mild Spoilers*

The "tracking" scenes are corny. I'm not at all impressed by TLJ noticing a wet boot footprint or a clump of shaving gel with stubble on it (when there is supposed to only be a woman in the house). Not impressed by following a trail of blood, either. I could do that crap.

The psychological aspect of del toro's character doesn't get expanded at all. It's very cliched. He has shell shock and can't tell friends from foes. That's as deep as it goes. The movie as a whole could have been much more intriguing if they had gone in to it more.

The characters are all very shallow and uninteresting. If the characters aren't fleshed out, then the audience doesn't care about them. If we don't care about the characters, then all the drama goes out the window, and all we're left with is the action, which brings me to my next point.

The "action" scenes are all boring and predictable. The only parts of the movie are when the two main characters fight, which is actually pretty original and well done, IMHO.

****

Soooo to sum it up, it's just a cheap action movie, nothing more. Definately not the "worst movie of 2003" but definately nothing noteworthy.

[Kneesmasher]

The plot was weak at best. The surprisingly lack of background information on the characters was a major flaw IMO. With the exception of a few interesting and tense moments in the opening military scene...this movie SUXXORS!

I did not find one redeeming quality. The only thing I was happy about was that fact that I only paid afternoon discount prices.

This movie is hardly even a rental...

[Awanka]

They looked like realistic knife fights to me. I can't stand the current trend of wire-fighting theatrics that passes as action these days. What phony crap. Give me minimalist action scenes that actually appear like they might be plausible, like the Bourne Identity.

There wasn't much suspense throughout. I didn't care for the running around chase aspect of the film too much, especially the part where both of them stop to make a weapon. If you're being man-hunted by the police, I don't think it's a good idea to stop and build a make-shift smithy so you can forge a knife. Maybe that's just me though.

It's not a good movie by any means, but there are worse ways to spend your money.

[ScraxMc`Scruff]

The fight scenes are real; it is based on some Philippine knife fighting technique.

It was a nice change from the movies that actually need you to think, just mindless action in my opinion, and for once I did not mind that.

[Alamando]

*Slight spoiling, kinda*

The Hunted isn't terrible if you accept it will be a bad movie before you start watching it. The only part that really annoyed me was the last fight scene. Granted, I've never been in a life-or-death knife fight, but I don't see how either character was still standing as that went on. I kept waiting for "It's only a flesh wound!"



*End slight spoiling and review*

[Jinheim]

Originally posted by Alamando
The Hunted isn't terrible if you accept it will be a bad movie before you start watching it. The only part that really annoyed me was the last fight scene. Granted, I've never been in a life-or-death knife fight, but I don't see how either character was still standing as that went on. I kept waiting for "It's only a flesh wound!"

Adrenaline. When you're fighting (especially for your life) you shrug off pain. I haven't been in many fights, but once, this guy bit down on my arm as I was putting him in a headlock. He tore out a big chunk of my left bicep. I didn't even feel it until about 15 minutes after it was over.

Remember earlier in the movie when Jones was teaching people where to cut before delivering the finishing blow? Those preliminary injuries cut tendons*, which are the kind of injury you CAN'T shrug off. Once that's done, no amount of willpower is going to let you move your crippled limbs, making you an easy target to finish off. Normally though this is ignored in movies. How many dozens of times has the villian been shot, stabbed, incinerated, beheaded, whatever, and is thought dead, only to come back full strength and "surprise" everyone?

*I'm not an expert on anatomy or knife-fighting so I am just guessing if that's the right word. I'm sure someone will correct me.

[Sucka]

I know it's a movie, and movies aren't supposed to be realistic, but the last fight scene was utterly ridiculous. First he falls off the cliff with the rope tied to his leg which would have ripped it out of socket. He gets a spear through his leg. He gets cut across the face, across the hand, deep slices in his chest three times and a knife completely through his bicep. I may even be missing one or two.

Adrenaline or not, you're not fucking standing after that, much less with no sign of limp or struggle to move.

I was really disappointed. I love Benicio del Toro, but this was painful to watch, the tracking scene was also laughable.

Should have went to Dreamcatcher instead. =\

[larseny316]

The cut across the face and hand (I believe it was on the back of his hand) wouldn't do anything at all. They would hurt like hell, and you would bleed, but the damage wouldn't matter for a while (5-15 minutes).

The bicep wound, well that one would really mess you up. But it would just injure that arm. Adrenaline (and the fact he's fighting for his life) could keep him on his feet for a while. I don't remember if he used that arm much afterwards, if he did then I'll agree with you on that one.

The leg wound I agree with you 100%. When you have something stuck completely through your leg, you won't be mobile. He would have trouble standing up, let alone doing complicated knife routines.

The most unrealistic part of the fight though, was that he is standing at the end. I would forgive the rest if after the fight he just collasped. That would make sense to me. I've forced myself past my limits before, but as soon as it was no longer needed I just fell on my face. He just looked tired, and barely that.