Name: Hard Kill
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Released: 2020-09-04T00:00:00+00:00
Cast: Bruce Willis, Jesse Metcalfe, Natalie Eva Marie, Lala Kent, Texas Battle

The opening scene of Hard Kill sets the tone for the entire film: Bruce Willis, looking weary and detached, delivers a line of dialogue so flat it might as well have been read from a grocery list. It’s clear from this moment that we’re in for a rough ride.

Directed by Matt Eskandari, Hard Kill is a 2020 action thriller that follows billionaire tech CEO Donovan Chalmers (Willis), who hires a team of mercenaries led by Miller (Jesse Metcalfe) to rescue his kidnapped daughter and retrieve a piece of world-changing technology. The film was released by Vertical Entertainment and later streamed on Netflix, where it became one of the top-streamed films for several weeks—likely due to Willis’s name attached rather than any inherent quality.

What works in Hard Kill is minimal. Natalie Eva Marie, playing Sasha, delivers a performance that stands out as convincing and badass, providing a rare spark of energy in an otherwise lackluster cast. The action sequences are serviceable but nothing remarkable, relying on familiar tropes and predictable set pieces. The cinematography is functional but uninspired, with dull locations and flat lighting that fail to elevate the material.

However, the film falters in nearly every other aspect. The dialogue is cringe-worthy, filled with clichés and delivered with all the charisma of a robot reading a script. Jesse Metcalfe tries his best as Miller but lacks the charisma needed to make his character remotely interesting. Bruce Willis, unfortunately, seems to have phoned in his performance, appearing listless and detached—hardly the energetic action star he once was. The plot is convoluted and confusing, with a weak premise that feels like it was cobbled together from other, better films.

The film’s structure is also a mess, with pacing issues that make it feel longer than its 92-minute runtime. Scenes drag on without purpose, and the action sequences are spaced too far apart to maintain any real tension. The sound design is another weak point, with muffled dialogue and uninspired score that fails to heighten the drama or excitement.

In the end, Hard Kill is a forgettable addition to the action thriller genre. It’s clear that the film was made with the sole purpose of capitalizing on Bruce Willis’s name, rather than offering any real entertainment value.