Hunt To Kill DVD Review
By Phil Allely
Former WWE headliner and all round wrestling legend Steve Austin has been fortunate enough to make the move from grappling to acting relatively smoothly and has missed out on many of the pitfalls his peers have encountered over the years. Many wrestlers ending up portraying parodies of their former selves or making the odd hit film and then slipping back into the ring when the movie business stops calling.
Austin has had a fair few hits in the last few years, his acting experience of course dates back to his early WWE days when he had some TV bit parts, featured in the Adam Sandler vehicle The Longest Yard and their success sowed the seed that he one day may become a full time actor.
Recent outings in mega action hit The Expendables and his own vehicle The Stranger are now followed up by this film Hunt To Kill. After rubbing shoulders with such legends as Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Bruce Willis and genre greats like, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Hunt To Kill is Austin’s latest attempt to crack the big leagues and become a headline star in his own right. The good news is that he has achieved just that, his previous roles and dedication to his acting work have paid off in spades here, as he holds his own against some top class actors and has a lovely few scenes with Hollywood star Eric Roberts amongst other s here.
Hunt to Kill follows the life of hard as nails Border Patrol Agent Jim Rhodes (Austin) and his teenage daughter. Rhodes’ is struggling to bring up a rebellious teenager and get over the loss of an old friend, when a group of nasty killers decide to visit town in search of their missing heist money and the man who betrayed them.
The story itself is a decent enough affair, Rhodes’ is forced to assist the group, or risk his daughters life and in turn utilise all of his survival skills and natural born ability to stay safe, well and avoid the brutality the gang can hand out. Eventually turning the tables on the hard-nosed crew of misfits as he outsmarts them and begins his own game of hunt the bad guy. Rhodes is the perfect character for Austin to portray, he has the rugged appeal that fans of his will approve of and the wilderness and remote setting of the action helps build things up to make him the focus of all the action.
Austin is a very good leading man, taking on the mantle from the likes of Willis, Segal, Stallone etc in letting his action hero bravado and nice selection of one-liners make up for any acting gaps. The picture’s pacing is great building up nicely to a frantic finish, the small cast of well known actors help elevate the project too, Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica), Gil Bellows (The Expendables) and Roberts all lend weight to a pretty good plot that invites you into the pain and pressure Rhodes is put under.
Hunt to Kill does indeed offer plenty of thrills and spills, it sets Steve Austin in good stead as a natural successor to the throne of all round action hero and go-to-guy that the aforementioned legends once had. Wrestling fans and action movie enthusiasts will enjoy this in equal measure.
Hunt to Kill gets a 4 out of 5
Hunt to Kill is released on 11 October on DVD and Blu-Ray from Anchor Bay Entertainment
Look out soon for our exclusive Steve Austin interview, talking about Hunt to Kill and Wrestling.
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