Bruce Willis continues to prove that he remains an action star worth watching, even if the film he stars in is a dud.
A terribly hammy and critically lambasted 90-minute action flick starring the Die Hard star has been raking up views on Netflix this week. The Bruce Willis movie storming the charts is Acts of Violence. Despite being released in 2018, the movie currently sits at the sixth spot on the Netflix Australia top ten list.
Directed by Brett Donowho and written by Nicolas Aaron Mezzanatto, Acts of Violence features Cole Hauser, Shawn Ashmore, Ashton Holmes, Melissa Bolona, Sophia Bush, and Mike Epps, in addition to Willis.
Acts of Violence revolves around the McGregor brothers, Deklan (Cole Hauser), Brandon (Shawn Ashmore), and Roman (Ashton Holmes). The youngest brother, Roman, is engaged to Mia (Melissa Bolona), his childhood sweetheart. However, their lives take a dark turn when Mia gets abducted by sex traffickers who work for criminal kingpin Max Livingston (Mike Epps).
Enter Detective James Avery (Bruce Willis), who has been on Livingston’s tail for a while. Roman seeks Deklan’s help, and the brothers, joined by Avery, set out on a mission to rescue Mia.
While Acts of Violence may have received highly negative reviews from critics, it has found its place among action movie enthusiasts on Netflix. Having Willis headlining the feature only helps. After an illustrious career, it was announced in March 2022 that Willis would retire due to aphasia. In February 2023, he received a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia.
Despite a few bad cinematic outings here and there, Willis’s legacy as an actor will endure. After starring in the fifth instalment of Die Hard, Willis had spoken about his joy in being able to revisit a character that is so important to him, “I have a warm spot in my heart for Die Hard….. it’s just the sheer novelty of being able to play the same character over 25 years and still be asked back is fun. It’s much more challenging to have to do a film again and try to compete with myself, which is what I do in Die Hard. I try to improve my work every time.”
While we hope to see him back on our screens in a new avatar, for now, his fans can enjoy his past work on streaming platforms like Netflix.
