Rian Smith had the curious honour of taking a look at big Sammel Jackson’s latest (Finnish?) movie – Big Game…
Want to be a scriptwriter? Don’t have any ideas? Don’t worry! You too can be a Hollywood smash! Simply fill in the following template:
(The main character) must save the President of the United States from a terrorist attack.
The only thing you need to do is enter a character, and the great thing is, the character can be anything: a presidential guard, a scientist, even a Werewolf (but MUST be male).
Big Game is one such film. It is so remarkably similar to other save-the-president movies that when the credit ‘Original Story by…’ came up, it honestly felt like a joke. Big Game has taken the template and, for the character, uses a thirteen-year-old Finnish hunter (no, he’s not Asian), but otherwise the formula is totally adhered to.
However, that’s not to say that Big Game isn’t fun, and it does have some unusual elements. The first ten minutes are dedicated to the good old fashioned father/son dynamic: both Finnish, both speaking Finnish. It’s an odd way to start a film being billed as a Sam Jackson action movie.
Jackson plays the President of the United States, but don’t be fooled by the poster, he is at an all time low on the Badass MF scale. However, there is fun to be had hearing Samuel L. Jackson shouting ‘We’re gonna die!’ and walking around with a plastic bag for a shoe.
Interestingly, the film is a Finnish – not American – production and is now the most expensive Finnish movie ever made, yet it’s €8.5 million budget wouldn’t even cover Liam Neeson’s current fee. Which is weird, because the effects, action and acting are hands down better than any recent Liam Neeson effort (I’m looking at you, Taken 3).
Yes, you will probably forget it in less than a week, but as far as modern action cinema goes – it’s light, it’s fun and Samuel L. Jackson delivers.
3/5