Review by Ben Bussey
It all could have gone so well. A dystopian futuristic fantasy for the Occupy generation, Bounty Killer shows a devastated world in which – hooray! – the white collar criminals have actually been held accountable for their crimes, every tax-dodging corporate fat cat having been forced into hiding with a price on their heads. Into this new frontier come those noble men and women whose profession is in the title. Two of the best are Drifter (Matthew Marsden, British actor who was in Rambo and played Charlie’s brother in Lost) and Mary Death (relative newcomer Christian Pitre). It’s immediately obvious these two share a little more than a propensity for high-octane slaughter – but when a new contract comes in revealing that Drifter might not be all he seems, where will Mary’s loyalties lie?
It’s really not a bad premise – and the first scenes alone seem promising, as bounty killers storm a swanky hideaway for the rich and shameless, dealing out bloody justice on those who I daresay the bulk of us feel most richly deserve it in this day and age. But this is just the opening scene. Those overtones of satire and social commentary quickly fade into the background, and for the bulk of the movie Bounty Killer plays out more along the lines of a dystopian western, with choppers standing in for horses.
Again, that might sound promising. But don’t get your hopes up. Director Henry Saine, whilst clearly influenced by the recent neo-grindhouse wave, may have the good sense to avoid the now rather played-out pseudo-70s aesthetic thing, but he hasn’t managed to craft a film that is visually interesting at all. There may be a ton of gun fights and plenty of splattery deaths, but there’s no kinetic energy, no sense of threat, no thrills. Instead, Bounty Killer promptly lapses into outright tedium, with a plot which, whilst initially intriguing, is sure to leave the viewer utterly indifferent in little to no time. I won’t lie to you – I very quickly lost track of what was going on, and found almost no reason to care either way.
Matthew Marsden… I’m sorry, but if ever a guy did NOT have the words ‘leading man action hero’ branded on his forehead, it’s him. The mere fact that one hails from the same isles as Jason Statham does not bestow upon one that same gruff and manly magnetism (and I should know). He’s utterly unconvincing as macho man Drifter, nor does he have much chemistry with either a) his painfully unfunny comedy sidekick Barak Hardly or b) his fellow bounty killer/protégé/love interest Christian Pitre. Given that the cover places Pitre (and, unsurprisingly enough, her cleavage) slap bang in the middle, the PR for Bounty Killer seems rather geared toward pushing the actress as the film’s great discovery. Well… I dunno, I guess there’s always the possibility she’s a star in waiting, but I very, very much doubt this film is going to do much to launch her. In common with pretty much everything about Bounty Killer, she just comes off a bit bland and middle-of-the-road, and while all involved may be doing their utmost to make Mary Death an iconic anti-heroine, there’s just nothing memorable about what they’ve created here.
About the only other real weapon in Bounty Killer’s arsenal is a perhaps surprising number of once-big names they’ve managed to draft in for supporting roles, with cameos from the former Mrs Griswald Beverly D’Angelo, the former TX Kristinna Loken, and the former crazy-guy-in-big-movies turned crazy-guy-in-little-movies Gary Busey. I’ve not doubt that it’s hoped all this is going to boost the fan appeal of a movie so clearly striving for cult status, not unlike when Hercules, Xena and Gabrielle had cameos in Bitch Slap; but, not unlike that turgid mess of a wannabe cult film, Bounty Killer is fighting a losing battle from the start, trying too hard, delivering too little, and failing miserably in just about every respect.
Yup – in case I haven’t made it clear, this is one to miss.
Bounty Killer is out on Region 2 DVD, Blu-ray, VOD and download on 27th January 2014, from Anchor Bay.