Worthy portrayal as a drug-addict assassin
THE HUNTER’S PRAYER Running time: 1hr 30min Starring: Sam Worthington, Odeya Rush, Allen Leech, Amy Landecker, Martin Compston, Veronica Echegui Director: Jonathan Mostow
WITH sci-fi actioners Surrogates and Terminator 3 already under his belt, director Jonathan Mostow should have no trouble handling a real-world Euro-thriller like The Hunter’s Prayer, yet control of the narrative appears to rapidly slip from his grasp as the movie’s implausibilities mount.
What should be a reliably entertaining, if not especially original, replication of well-worn crime-thriller conventions instead turns into an enervating slog.
Anti-hero assassins come in various guises, from scruffy John Wick types to sophisticated Jason Bourne exemplars, but Stephen Lucas (Sam Worthington), a needle addict with deadly aim, doesn’t really fit the mould. His mile-wide sentimental streak taken together with his rather unrelenting drug habit would seem to make him entirely unsuitable for the profession.
Nevertheless, British drug kingpin Addison (Allen Leech) sees fit to send him on assignment to track down teenager Ella Hatto (Odeya Rush) at her posh Swiss boarding school.
Addison has ordered Ella’s elimination after discovering that her dad has diverted millions in illicit revenues from his accounts. A father himself, Lucas hesitates when he gets an opening to gun Ella down at a Montreux nightclub, well aware that his colleague Metzger (Martin Compston) has already assassinated her parents. Lucas becomes a mark himself as soon as he violates Addison’s orders by grabbing Ella and evading his employer’s armed pursuers in a high-speed chase.
It’s not until they cross the French border and Lucas can get his fix that he reveals to Ella that he’s actually her killer, not her rescuer. Realising that Lucas may be the only one who can actually protect her, even if she can’t trust him, Ella must decide whether to help him recover before confronting Addison, or to go after her parents’ killer alone.
Worthington takes his role way too seriously, neglecting to indulge in the occasional dark or selfdeprecating humour that so often makes a well-done B-movie such a worthwhile guilty pleasure. Rush’s role as a helpless tagalong remains too underwritten to draw much attention.
Mostow’s talent at bringing on the mayhem is never in doubt, though, with enough shoot-outs and car chases to maintain the moderately enticing pacing.
The action falters a bit when attention shifts to the rocky relationship between Lucas and Ella, but cinematographer Jose David Montero and editor Ken Blackwell succeed in getting things back on track with a consistent succession of energetic chase and fight scenes. – Hollywood Reporter