Thursday 14 December 2017

Big Game 2014 - Film Review


Caught the beginnings of a film last night, ‘Big Game’ (2014) which looked good not having seen it before it was subtitled and from what I could see and read, It was going to be a passage from childhood to teenager with a young boy about to undertake a hunt alone.

Yes, it was about a boys travel to young adulthood but all of a sudden, the film turned into betrayal, terrorism and throw in the President of the United States of America and the subtitles disappeared what had I stumbled across I thought to myself.

When terrorists leave the President of the United States William Allan Moore (Samuel L. Jackson) stranded in the wilderness of Finland after shooting down Air Force One, there is only one person around who can save him: a 13-year-old boy called Oskari (Onni Tommila). He is in the forest to prove his transition from a child to a teenager by hunting down a deer to show is father and the others in his village he has come of age. Of course, under the circumstances, the two characters meet.

After several minutes of consideration, Oskari follows the President's instructions, opens the pod, and releases him. After several minutes of questioning, the boy finally accepts that the shoeless man standing before him, is, in fact the President of the United States.

I couldn’t get my head around the terrorist leader who basically was kind of a psychopath with no real motives other than having the president as a stuffed trophy, strange. He was help by one of the president security team for the sum of £10million, which was cheap for betrayal of someone so important I thought . Later we find out the vice president was in on the plot its nearly always the number two the president should watch out for.

What follows is an entertaining if preposterous and campy action film complete with mega explosions & wide panning shots and plenty of character moments too, particularly in the comparatively slow first half.

The pairing between Onni Tommila and Samuel L. Jackson is deftly handled, with both characters complementing each other through witty banter, strong action chemistry, and motivational tales.
The villains are campy, over-the-top and fun to watch. However, one thing that doesn't work is the political drama/backstabbing in the Pentagon, which ends up feeling unnecessary and needlessly longwinded.

Overall, while the action tends towards the preposterous, Big Game charms and beguiles for a satisfying movie experience.


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