Big Game
2014
110 Minutes Running Time
PG-13
This is a spoiler free movie review!
Jalmari Helander is probably not a name
you have heard or even recognize. Just by the name I probably wouldnt
either but I do know his 2010 Christmas movie very well. Rare
Exports: A Christmas Tale has reached cult status in just a few
years. It also has the honor of being one of the Christmas movies in
my collection that is a must watch every year during the holiday
season. Around October of last year, I discovered that Helander had
another movie coming out entitled Big Game.
Now, keep in mind, like Rare Exports,
Big Game is a Finnish film. This scares people sometimes because
foreign movies can be much different from american movies and subtitled which tends to
bother some people. The two films are completely different from each
other. Rare Exports is a creepy Christmas story which is mostly
subtitled while Big Game is an action movie that is mostly in
English. Yes, there are some subtitles but I'd say 90% of the movie
is spoken in english.
When I first saw the trailer for Big Game, I was immediately excited. The story doesn't seem original
at first glance but I stand behind the fact that it is. It blends
some of my favorite action movies and makes one beautiful little
baby.
The story in a nutshell is this.
Air
Force One is attacked and the President of the United States of
America is put into an escape pod landing in the middle of the woods
in Finland. At the same time thirteen year old Oskari is sent into
those same woods to prove himself to be a man by hunting and killing
whatever the woods chooses to give to him. Oskari is the first to
find the President but unfortunately the men who attacked the
presidents plane are not far behind. It's up to Oskari to help the president escape and find out who is after them.
I warn you, if you watch the trailer it
will spoil about 75% of this movie. Of course, I watched the trailer
about a hundred times because I was so excited for it but I didn't
let that ruin my experience. Lets just call it my public service
announcement to allow you to go into this movie with fresh eyes which
is tough to do these days.
Everything about this movie just feels
like a summer action blockbuster. The music, the scenery, and even
though some of it is CGI, it doesn't look like it. The acting and
dialogue are at times a bit on the cheesy side but I have to think
that this was done intentionally and its some of my favorite parts of
the movie. Even the story reeks of eighties action movie goodness.
From one liners to over the top explosions. The story, although simple
as it is, does try to go the extra mile to keep the viewer on their
toes and does a good job in doing so. Something that amazes me is that the
trailer gives away one of it biggest surprises. Even though its
revealed fairly early on in the movie it happens fast and comes out
of nowhere and should not have been included in the trailer in my opinion.
I think the acting in this movie is
some of the best I have seen in a movie from the entire cast. Everybody seems to know their roles and what their character is their for. Of course, Samuel L. Jackson is Samuel L. Jackson but that in of itself is pretty
good. And he is the freaking president, how cool is that. Onni
Tommila plays thirteen year old Oskari and does an outstanding job. As an added bonus, his chemistry with Jackson is spot on. Which is important because
they have a lot of screen time together including a campfire scene
which builds the characters nicely.
Ray Stevenson is absolutely brilliant
as one of the president's secret service agents. I have become a fan
of Stevenson over the year because of his portrayal of the Punisher
in Punisher:Warzone which I think is a good interpretation of the
comic book character. Other then the skull shirt wearing vigilante he
also played Firefly in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and made me care about a
character that I previously did not care about.
Victor Garber and Felicity Huffman are
also people you will say “Hey, Ive seen them from other movies,”
but you wont be able to name one nor would you know their names at
the sight of their face.
Jim Broadbent plays the oddball
character Herbert. He is your typical looney character that ends of
being smarter than every guy in the film. I would love to see a spin
off movie with his character, he is that good. His line delivery is
just so deliciously over the top that it makes me love the movie even
more when he is on the screen.
Another feat that this movie pulls off, is the fact that it is an action movie rated PG-13. Normally I would scoff at an action movie that was PG-13 and not R but Big Game pulls it off flawlessly. At no point in this movie would I have thought that it was not R but then looking back on it, the violence is not that graphic and there is very little cursing. I would have loved to seen this movie as a youngster.
This movie isn't being talked about by
anyone that I know, which is an absolute shame. It is a fast paced
action movie which has a running time of an hour and a half, which I am
convinced is the perfect length for a movie. There are virtually no
slow spots and each scene is important to the film. The story
really is a coming of age story where a boy finds out how to become a
man. It doesn't pound that into our heads but the sentiment is
definitely there. If you want a movie that aims to entertain and
delivers with a knock out punch then trust me folks, Big Game is the
movie for you.
-R.T.
R.T. Ewell (but you can call me Richard if you see me in public) is a nerd and self published author. While also being Needless Thing's resident Lego fanatic & reviewer. His first novella Fat Trapped was released in 2013 introducing the horror world to The Blankenship Family. Some random likes of his are the Batman villain Bane, Jeff Smith's cartoon epic Bone, and the 80's BMX movie RAD.
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