2021, d. - AmazonPrime
Under most circumstances I would look at a film like Most Dangerous Game, clocking in at 131 minutes, starring the other Hemsworth brother (no, the other one) and popping up on AmazonPrime with zero fanfare, and just balk at the idea of watching it. But, I like the man-hunting-man genre something fierce. Battle Royale, Series 7, Surviving the Game, Hard Target, The Hunt, Avengers Arena, the Hunger Games... it's a genre that hasn't yet been played out despite the rhythms of these things being fairly consistent across the genre. There is only one of these every few years, and I'm there for it each time.
But still...131 minutes. The original film adaptation of The Most Dangerous Game only clocked in at 63 minutes. But this isn't a remake... there is a remake of that story is coming later this year. Even still where does this Liam Hemsworth starring version get the stones to run at over two hours? And why does it just start cold with a conversation and no opening production credits or anything. Why does it so often feel remarkably like a TV show stitched together into a film? A well-produced TV show, but a TV show nonetheless.
Why do the end credits give writing credits by episode numberss? Waitaminute....is this a Quibi? It is, it is a Quibi. One escaped into the wild. I began to think the elusive Quibi didn't actually exist... but her's proof...proof!
It's a silly movie with a lot of bad dialogue and obvious exposition, and it drops a whole mythology set up to make it feel like it deserves more than just this one "season"(?). But, I was also very much entertained. It effectively created tension, and, as absurd as it got, I never lost interest. Plus always happy to see Zach Cherry and Sarah Gadon... plus Christoph Waltz is very fun, especially when you're not sure if he's really the bad guy or not throughout the whole thing.
Waltz is the man offering Hemsworth, apparently dying of a terminal illness, the means to support his family after his passing, by participating in a contests. For every hour he survives, money in the bank. If he survives 24 hours, he's a free man. But if he breaks the rules, if he goes out of bounds of play, he will be hunted for the rest of his short life. It's pretty basic, and the "film" adds complications and layers that are mostly fun but also not terribly necessary.
If you like this kind of thing, you'll like this thing, kinda.
Funny. I had Quibi for a while but never got around to watching this. Never watched much on there, as the format was just not really worth it. The Fugitive was done decently enough but I never caught onto anything else...
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