Review: First Kill

Hayden Christensen plays an overworked stockbroker with a wife (Megan Leonard) and kid (Ty Shelton). He has decided to head out for his woodland hometown, and take the kid deer hunting as a father-son bonding exercise. Yeah, let’s shoot some guns together, kid…that’ll stop you from being a bullied little wuss (Insert “Team America: World Police” theme song here). Bruce Willis plays the small town local sheriff who knows Christensen and knew his father as well. Anyway, the hunting expedition goes to pot when the boy is witness to a couple of guys (Gethin Anthony one of them) squabbling over some criminal activity they’ve just participated in, and a key gets thrown in Shelton’s direction. One guy also shoots the other guy, injuring him. Eventually the kid inadvertently alerts the men to their presence, and Christensen realises it’s ‘go time’ and fatally shoots one of the men to protect his son. The dead man turns out to be a cop, which will no doubt cause a whole shitstorm of trouble that sees Christensen having to make an uneasy alliance with the wounded man (Anthony) to protect his family. The rest you’ll have to see for yourself, or not. I’d go with not, personally.

This review was originally posted before the announcement of Willis' illness/retirement and certain comments are obviously no longer relevant. Nonetheless I'd rather add these words than subtract anything, perhaps as a reminder that we don't know someone's personal circumstance.

The direct-to-DVD market has some pretty strange bedfellows, with this 2017 action/thriller from director Steven C. Miller (“Escape Plan 2: Hades”, “Marauders”) pairing Hayden Christensen with Bruce Willis. That’s the only interesting thing I can say about this otherwise tired, often poorly acted film with a wholly transparent screenplay by Nick Gordon (a relative newbie) and a rarely seen Willis. For the limited screen time Willis has, he’s even less invested in it (which is probably his standard performance by now, sadly). Giving a performance both lazy and overblown, in some ways it’s hard to blame him as the whole thing is predictable from very early on. It’s also chock full of ancient clichés. ***** SPOILER WARNING ***** Yes, we even get someone having a ‘Right after I pushed your dad off that cliff!’ moment. So stupid, so clichéd. ***** END SPOILER ***** Willis isn’t alone in the bad acting department though, as Megan Leonard is shockingly amateurish as Christensen’s wife. I had to wonder if this was her first acting experience ever, she’s that bad.

It’s a shame, because a few elements here and there do work, even if I found the idea of a father taking his son deer-hunting on a dark and rainy day to be a bit suspicious. The scenes between young Ty Shelton and Gethin Anthony (in the film’s two standout performances) in particular are pretty decent. As for the former Anakin Skywalker, Christensen (who was good in “Shattered Glass”) is OK here, but nothing more. He’s pretty decent in action mode, but doesn’t get a lot of it, and some of what he gets is sadly shakily-shot (the film is otherwise quite attractive).

Although unoriginal, the situation isn’t inherently uninteresting, and the performances by Ty Shelton and Gethin Anthony are pretty good. However, a mountain of clichés and a couple of pretty poor supporting performances sink this forgettable film. 

Rating: C-