The Contractor

Unexpected hit! The biggest fail of the whole film is probably the rating here. (in Rotten Tomatoes is 75%). The movie comes across as a mix of Bourne, Clancy, Ryan and others, but who cares. It's not some underfunded crap with terrible actors, cheap visuals and bad action, everything works here, but already saw similar stuff elsewhere a few years back, so I'm happy for any tactical military action movie. The film nicely shows that even if you serve your country for a few years, you can lose absolutely everything in an instant, and that's the situation Chris Pine finds himself in, with enforcers on his ass and nothing to support his family – right from the start, any normal person must immediately empathise with the protagonist. The only way out of this is one secret black ops mission that doesn't go to plan and the consequences are fatal. I'm happy with the premise, it feels realistic and authentic and thus I view it more as an actual ongoing mission than a movie. I was immediately impressed by the great details of the film: the elaborate equipment of the unit, the modern gear with all the trimmings, it can make any military fan grin from ear to ear). The sound design of the weapons is very good, and Pine behaves intelligently, exactly as a man with that experience should behave, but most of all, he is wounded, exhausted, physically absolutely fucked up, and the viewer has the uncomfortable feeling that his life is on the line. It's also R-rated, so there are a few grittier shots (the shootout in the woods with the cops is very intense), and there's some nice action in Berlin in broad daylight and a few minor elimination fights. I have to praise the music, it was such a blast that it stomped the whole of Dune into the ground (some scenes reminded me of the the recent Ambulance). There is one minor twist and one superbly acted emotional situation in a car park. Ben Foster also gives a very strong performance. The atmosphere is thick as hell, I enjoyed it a lot, found it quite suspenseful and intense, I really don't know who has a problem with this film. I see only positives here. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 4/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 4/5. 8/10. (05.04.2022)

After retiring from the army, former soldier Jim Harper travels to Germany with a group of mercenaries to stop a dangerous scientist and his research. Only too late does he discover that it's a lot more complicated than that, and that there's no way he's going back home. While The Contractor tries to pass itself off as an action film, the action is minimal. Instead, the film takes its time with boring heroes and philosophizing about how difficult it is to leave the military for civilian life. Unfortunately, as a drama it works even worse than an action movie. A boring and miserable film with nothing to offer. (11.04.2022)