Synopsis
Contracted to kill. Fighting to survive.
An assassin seeks redemption after being given a second chance at life.
2017 Directed by Brian Smrz
An assassin seeks redemption after being given a second chance at life.
Ethan Hawke Xu Qing Paul Anderson Rutger Hauer Tyrone Keogh Nathalie Boltt Liam Cunningham Jeremy Yong Susan Young Hakeem Kae-Kazim Claire Berlein Richard Lothian Tanya van Graan Alex Anlos Andrew Morgado Jenna Upton Aidan Whytock Bjorn Steinbach Brendan Murray Gary Glushon Susan Ling Young Jason Maydew Shane John Kruger Jeremeo Le Cordeur Owen de Wet Tuks Tad Lungu
24 ur do smrti, 24小時:末路重生, 24 heures à vivre, 24 години на життя, Du lebst noch 24 Stunden
I don't want to kill you. I want the fish to like me.
This film's been on my watchlist for awhile. After being disappointed with Kate, I figured it would be a good time to finally check this out. Turns out, 24 Hours to Live is even more mediocre to the point of just being outright bad to me. I was reminded of Extraction, a movie I have had absolutely no reason to think about otherwise since its initial release. That and this film share the same DNA where it has a notable actor in the lead role and decent action, and then it thinks that's going to be enough for it to coast by. That's not the case. At…
I wasn't planning on seeing this movie. But due to the California fires and other extenuating circumstances, I quickly found myself watching my Plan C and that was 24 Hours to Live.
It is an interesting concept with multiple locations across the world. Throw in excessive violence that executives probably hoped would keep audiences interested and maybe you have yourself a deal.
A couple of times, I felt it could have been more. It was sufficient. It wasn't bad. It wasn't great. But it could have been a lot worse.
This is the 84th film I've seen with Movie Pass.
Vegan alert:
Someone shot through an aquarium and all the water rushed out, assumedly killing all the fish.
Brian Smrz....Smrz? Yep, Smrz worked as a stunt man and second unit director. And just like the John Wick guys he moved to the director's chair. And just like in John Wick the director shoots ass fucking kicking action like a motherfucking boss. With these guys there's no green screen or computer generated action. Ethan Hawke does John Wick shit here too. An international witness, interpol agents, billion dollar corporations, hitmen, a million bullets fired, here the action is the juice, brother! Had a blast with this one.
After getting shot down on a mission, Ethan Hawke is brought back to life and given only... 24 HOURS TO LIVE!
When this came out, I saw folks label this as a weak-sauce attempt at JOHN WICK, but that was probably because they were disappointed it had very little in common with WICK beyond a 90s heartthrob turned grizzled character actor in the lead. I was impressed at how clever they showed Ethan Hawke's assassin to be as a planner, before flipping the script and turning him into an exhausted hallucinating mess. Stunt-coordinator/Director Brian Smrz only gets to stage gunfights/car chases, but they're cleanly presented and a head above most DTV shlock - even if a few more of them would have helped this immensely.
It's the kind of movie where one guy is storming a fortress, the villain knows who the guy is, there's an explosion after an initial skirmish and someone still feels compelled to say "It's him."
Ethan Hawke’s not-Crank not-John Wick isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel; it just wants to deliver a sturdy comfortable wheel. And 24 Hours To Live does so with rock-solid well-staged action, reinforced by a game Hawke, a top-notch support cast, and a dash of sci-fi. An unassuming DTV gem from stunt-coordinator-turned-director Brian Smrz that is honestly better than anyone would expect.
As cliched as the whole set-up and literally every character are, the script is given time to breathe, doesn’t rush the action when it can let Hawke inject some gravitas. Smrz’s background is immediately apparent in the frenetic clarity of the action, the “I know how to make people look cool” aspect of the character beats and practical stunts. Was more satisfied by this than I anticipated!
Action x52 2020: Film #49
A woovember film
They call him "Travis the Cat" because he has nine lives, he always lands on his feet and he licks his own balls.
John Wick for cat people.
This flick had good action scenes, fast paced but the plot is too complicated for no good reason. They should have kept it simple and everything would have been so much better. Worth watching on a rainy day.