Hard Kill
By Jeffrey M. Anderson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Uninspired, unimaginative, violent action flick.
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Hard Kill
Community Reviews
Based on 2 parent reviews
Written by a 5 year old
Cool
What's the Story?
In HARD KILL, security expert Derek Miller (Jesse Metcalfe) is offered a job by billionaire CEO Donovan Chalmers (Bruce Willis) to help protect a piece of tech that could change the world. Miller convinces his old crew -- Sasha (Natalie Eva Marie), Dash (Swen Temmel), and Lt. Colton (Tyler Jon Olson) -- to join him for the job, promising a large paycheck. But it turns out that the gig isn't just guarding the device, but also protecting Chalmers from a terrorist called the Pardoner (Sergio Rizzuto). The Pardoner has kidnapped Chalmers' daughter, Eva (Lala Kent), and already has the device, and just needs Chalmers' passcode to activate it. The team is taken to an abandoned warehouse, where they must prepare for the battle of their lives.
Is It Any Good?
Clunky dialogue, lazy exposition, stiff acting, wobbly camerawork, a dull villain, and a ridiculous situation are just part of what awaits viewers in this astoundingly bad action movie. Willis re-teams with director Matt Eskandari after their equally bad Survive the Night for a movie that feels like it could have been put together by a computer and churned out on a factory assembly line. Even the title, Hard Kill, seems randomly slapped together, stolen from other movie titles (including, perhaps not coincidentally, Willis' own Die Hard).
The entire setup requires the heroes to be easily fooled into becoming "the cavalry" for Chalmers -- and on Eva simply walking up to the Pardoner (whose nickname sounds like "partner" when spoken fast) and pretty much asking to be kidnapped. Also, the whole thing is about ... a passcode? It seems as if, for an evil genius, there might be an easier way to go about this, and all so he can turn the device "into a weapon." Hard Kill is just all so numbingly impersonal and unimaginative, and even Willis -- who at least gets to do more here than he did in Survive the Night -- just looks tired and spent, so very far away from his best work.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Hard Kill's violence. How did it affect you? Was it shocking or gory? How do you think the movie achieved this effect? What's the impact of media violence on kids?
Do the movie's heroes practice teamwork? How?
Is it responsible to make movies about terrorists? Should the subject be off-limits, or is it better to discuss it?
Are women objectified in this movie? Are they strong characters with their own driving forces, or do they reinforce stereotypes?
Is drinking glamorized? If so, how? Are there any consequences? Why does that matter?
Movie Details
- In theaters: August 21, 2020
- On DVD or streaming: August 25, 2020
- Cast: Bruce Willis , Jesse Metcalfe , Sergio Rizzuto
- Director: Matt Eskandari
- Studio: Vertical Entertainment
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Run time: 98 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: violence and language throughout
- Last updated: February 18, 2023
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