I was a bit sceptical when I first started watching The Hunt. The language around killing “deplorables” was a bit unsettling. And I didn’t want to watch a self-righteous piece about how one side is better than the other. Which reviews had led me to believe it was this type of film, however, I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.
Though, I think the point of the movie is that they are mocking whatever side you happen to be on, which either left and right-leaning in politics. However, I don’t think that matters as much as the insane and amusing deaths that we are treated with. The basic plot of The Hunt, if you don’t know already, is based loosely on the short story of The Most Dangerous Game.
Now I know there is some debate about the politics in this movie and caused a bit of uproar at the time of its release. For the rest of the world, this should be a no-brainer as it is mocking American culture predominantly. But wherever you live, I would suggest watching it without preconceptions and just enjoy it for the fight-tastic film it is.
I have to say Betty Gilpin steals the show as a sardonic and detached character in The Hunt. One of my favourite bits is when another hunted asks if she cares why they are doing it. And her reply is: “Well, they’re trying to kill me. I don’t give a shit why.” You don’t know much about the hunted apart from they hold values that aren’t kosher, to say the least. But then again, neither is hunting people down like animals, so it’s all fair game. And to be honest, I didn’t much care for the reasons surrounding the hunt, just as much as Crystal did not care.
If you are looking for a great satire movie, this is not the film for you. It kinda limps along not really focusing on it too much. I found it to be more of a background feature of the film that I could simply ignore and enjoy the great fight scenes and acting of Betty Gilpin. Because this is a great film for fights, I have to say. There are often surprising deaths, done in the most amusing and creative ways. And the final fight is amazingly shot and very entertaining.
To me, Crystal felt like the average citizen in The Hunt, caught in the middle of the fight of two extremes, just wondering how she ended up in this mess. She could also represent the viewer in this scenario. Not caring about what the mess is, just that now her day is ruined, and she’s just trying to survive. But unfortunately for pretty much everyone around her, she has some serious combat skills.
The other characters such as the villains like Athena are also a weakness in my opinion, unfortunately. This is probably due to the feeble character development. I had hoped with the initial plane scene in which you only see the back of Athena’s head, there might have been more depth or substance to her. Her reasons for the hunt are quite lacking and quite unbelievable, to be honest. But perhaps that was the point, however, it wasn’t as delivered as well as it could have been.
I would go as far as to say if it wasn’t for casting Betty Gilpin, I might not have enjoyed this film as much as she pretty much single-handedly stole the show.
So watch this film if you like a good kick-ass female action movie with great fights and some humorous dialogue at times.
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