In a turn of events that may surprise no one, we have yet another not-so-new action thriller storming the Netflix top ten films chart. This time, it’s a Gerard Butler one.
Butler’s action-packed thriller, Hunter Killer, has found its way into the seventh spot on the Netflix US top ten list of films. Despite being critically dubbed as a clichéd action flick, the movie’s presence on the streaming platform suggests that it has found its audience.
Directed by Donovan Marsh, Hunter Killer features a screenplay by Arne Schmidt and Jamie Moss. The film boasts a stellar cast, including Butler in the lead role as Captain Joe Glass, Gary Oldman as Rear Admiral John Fisk, rapper Common as Rear Admiral John Gore, and Linda Cardellini as Jayne Norquist.
This film also marked one of the last on-screen appearances of As It Is in Heaven star Michael Nyqvist, whom you might remember for playing the lead villains, Kurt Hendricks in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Viggo Tarasov in John Wick. This was one of his posthumous releases, along with the 2018 disaster drama Kursk and the 2019 epic historical drama Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life.
The story of Hunter Killer revolves around an American submarine captain, played by Butler, who is tasked with the mission to rescue a Russian president kidnapped during a military coup. As tensions escalate between the United States and Russia, Captain Glass must navigate treacherous waters, both politically and literally, to prevent an all-out war. So, Hunter Killer is basically a full-blown tale of good ol’ American heroism.
While the film has faced criticism for adhering to the typical clichéd elements, barely trying anything new, it doesn’t seem to matter to the particular Netflix audience who enjoy formulaic action flicks like Extraction and Cold Pursuit.
You can have your mindless action binge with Hunter Killer, but first, catch the trailer here:
